


Life is full of second chances

by moonlight_petal



Series: Life is full of second chances [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic, Fluff, I'm sorry but it was necessary, Kid!Fic, M/M, Minor Character Death, apocalypse 2.0, completely ignoring Season 09, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-26
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-06 05:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 56,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1103216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlight_petal/pseuds/moonlight_petal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Team Free Will had worked on reversing Metatron's spell with Gabriel's help, Abaddon and her minions started the apocalypse 2.0. Trying to save humanity once again, Sam is prepared to sacrifice himself but Gabriel has other ideas that'll change all their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I kind of fail at summaries, you know?  
> Well this was partly inspired by an idea I had some time ago but mostly this is based off on whydouwantaname on tumblr. This whole story will also be dedicated to her.  
> I love feedback and discussing things with my reader, so please let me know what you think!

**Prologue**

~*~ _Sometimes life gives you a second chance because maybe you just weren't ready the first time! ~*~_

The whole scenario had a dreadful sense of deja vu to it. Granted he hadn’t been exactly present for the first go around, thanks to Lucifer but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t seen what had happened.

Sam Winchester had said _yes_ and miraculously had managed to get a grip on the angel inside him to jump head first into the cage. It had been a heroic moment but a great tragedy at the same time. Gabriel liked the younger Winchester and despite everything that had been said and done, he genuinely thought that the kid deserved a shot at a normal life.

But things hadn’t worked out the way Gabriel had wished for. True after Metatron went all crazy and cast all angels out of heaven, God had decided to step forth and resurrect Gabriel –complete with his mojo- to help the Winchesters and Castiel to reverse the spell.

In itself a nice idea really and it worked out pretty well too actually. By the time Dean and he decided to stop bickering and get some work done, they had managed well enough. They made a pretty badass team if Gabe said so himself. All his brothers and sisters were sent back home and everything was peachy. Sadly Cassie remained human since his grace had been gone completely but by the looks of it, his little brother wasn’t exactly sad about it. In many respects Gabriel admired his little brother, not that he would tell him that.

That brought them to their latest predicament because while they were busy sending the angels back upstairs they had stayed blissfully undisturbed from downstairs. A fact they should have picked up on a lot earlier, but what’s done is done. Abaddon and her minions had turned out to be a lot more intelligent and evil than the previous ‘King of Hell’. They had managed to prepare and unleash a second try at the apocalypse the moment the angels left earth.

So now they were standing in front of the most unimpressive house Gabriel had seen ever, armed to their teeth and Sam Winchester prepared to go on a suicide mission for the sake of the earth once again.

The archangel let his gaze wander over every single member of their small party and it was a heartbreaking sight.

Sam was calm and resigned to give his life once again for humanity and honestly nobody should be so calm about something like this.

Dean was putting on a composed, carefully neutral face but Gabriel knew better than to believe that. The older Winchester was practically screaming inside at the thought of losing his brother again.

And Castiel? His little brother -although human now- was still a soldier and didn’t let on much himself but he too was devastated at the prospect of losing one part of his family –truth be told probably more devastated than he ever had been about losing one of his angelic brothers or sisters- and also damned scared at the thought of what it would do to Dean, scared that he’ll lose the older Winchester to grief and sadness once everything was done. Because well, little Cassie had a secret that wasn’t really a secret to anyone but Dean Winchester apparently but Gabriel could actually see the proof of it imprinted on Cas’ new soul. He was in love with the Winchester and that fact alone posed the threat for Gabriel to lose all three of them in the long run if he did not come up with a good idea quickly.

~~**~~

It didn’t go as planned initially. Of course it didn’t, Team Free Will had been involved after all. But this change of plans hadn’t happened because the bad guys had gotten the jump on them for a change but because Gabriel had made a couple of grave battle decisions himself.

The plan had been for Sam to go into the house which somehow also acted as some kind of portal for all things hell and set up some serious magic ritual while the other three made sure he wasn’t interrupted. The younger Winchester would have given his life during the ritual which would have catalyzed the destruction of the portal.

It didn’t go like that because Gabriel interfered at the last moment. In the very moment when Sam made to take his own life to complete the spell ritual Gabriel directed all of his grace on the younger Winchester. The room was enveloped into a bright light the whole construction gave in to the power of the archangel. As quickly as if soaked in gasoline the room was filled with flames but the portal was closed and at Gabriel’s feet in a puddle of oversized clothes laid a baby.

Cas and Dean had been drawn upstairs against better judgment when they saw the light from outside. Coughing and swaying Gabe met them just on the top of the steps.

“Dean-o, here take the kid, don’t want to drop him.” He huffed weakly.

Confused the older Winchester did as he was told, turned on his heels and ran outside, intently fighting the memories of a lifetime ago.

Cas quickly moved to help his brother, worry etched into his face.

“Gabriel, what have you done?” he questioned hastily but Gabe did not answer until they were outside.

The archangel collapsed to the ground in a violent coughing fit, growing weaker by the second.

“What did you do? Where does the child come from? I don’t understand, Gabriel talk to me!” Cas asked again, falling to his knees and cradling his brother’s head in his lap. Dean joined them on his other side.

“I did the only thing I could think of, Cassie. I couldn’t let him do this again, he deserved so much more, all of you deserve so much more.” He paused to take in a shuddering breath.

“This child, Dean-o, is your little brother.” Dean’s eyes widened and Cas gasped in surprise and horror.

“Gabe, you...” he began, shaking his head frantically and Dean shot him a confused glance.

“I did and it’s all good. Honestly it was fun while it lasted but let’s be honest, I was never meant to be a permanent part of your family and frankly I don’t want to be part of our other family. Now I get to find my own heaven and finally meet all those lovely people I heard so much about up there.” The smaller man said with a pained smile.

“I don’t understand what are you on about?” Dean interjected.

“Gabriel gave his grace to save Sam and his life to close the portal.” Cas explained with tears in his eyes.

The older Winchester looked down at the pale face of the angel and couldn’t help the tears that filled his own eyes.

“Gabe… I’ll never be able to thank you enough for this. And for what it’s worth, we may have had a rocky start but you are a good guy and you will always be a member of this family! An honorary Winchester!” He said the words with conviction, cradling the whimpering baby close to his chest.

Gabriel huffed a laugh, he felt that his time was coming to an end and when he looked over Dean’s shoulder he saw his personal escort already waiting. Death himself and the reaper named Tessa stood waiting patiently.

“Thank you, Dean. I’ll never forget this but you have to promise me one thing or my sacrifice would be for nothing. Take care of Sammy, make sure to finally retire from the life style and give him the life he always should have had. You are a good man, Dean Winchester, you can do this! And Cassie, I love you little brother! Make sure that these two stay on the right path, alright? And for the love of our dad, do something!”

Gabriel gave Cas a last insistent look that explained to his brother what he had meant. That had taken the last bit of strength he had however and with a shuddering sigh he closed his eyes and welcomed Tessa’s guiding hand, looked back on himself and his grieving little family away from home with a sad smile.

“You made a marvellous decision, Gabriel. Now let’s go, my friend.” Death said with a kind smile.


	2. Chapter 01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Gabriel's sacrifice, Dean and Cas have to face big changes and decisions. Their friends are there to help them but they also receive help from an unexpected source.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first full Chapter to this story. I hope you like it. And please let me know what you think, I'm always happy to read your opinions.

_~*~ Babies are such sweet beginnings ~*~_

It was silent inside the Impala, not even Dean’s ever present Classic Rock tapes were playing.

The occurrences over the past couple of hours and the uncertainty of their future had shocked both men into silence. Dean’s gaze flickered to the tiny infant in Cas’ arms every so often. He couldn’t believe yet what had happened, what Gabriel had done for them and what consequences this would have for them. But Dean was determined to make the best of the situation, to honour Gabe’s sacrifice. It was the least he could do and Sam of all people deserved a shot at a normal life.

Gabriel –as the proclaimed honorary Winchester- had gotten a real hunter’s funeral. Both of them, Cas and he, had needed the time to say their farewells. Even little baby Sammy had felt that something big had been happening and had cried the whole time. Rationally both men knew that that’s what babies do, they react to the moods and things around them but they both wanted to believe that there was a small hint of their Sam there who mourned the death of the archangel.

Now however, the baby slept peacefully in Cas’ arms while they drove away. Cas broke the quiet after half an hour when he noticed that Dean had taken the road leading in the opposite direction of the bunker.

“Dean, where are we going?” he wondered out loud.

The elder Winchester quickly looked at Cas before his eyes returned on the road.

“We need to make a detour before we can go home and try to figure this out. I need to see Lisa for a bit.” He explained not noticing the shadow of disappointment that settled on Cas’ face.

“Oh right, okay.” He mumbled, looking down on the small child, gently stroking the tiny hands with his finger. A small smile grazed his lips when the baby grabbed the finger tightly in his sleep and held on for dear life.

“Yeah, she’s the only one I can think of right now who can help me out with the basic baby stuff I’ll need until we figure out what we should do. I just hope that she kept the most important things from Ben. And that her new boyfriend doesn’t try to punch me the moment I arrive, I don’t want to hurt him and make things complicated for her.” He added as an afterthought.

“She has a new boyfriend?” Cas sounded genuinely surprised. He hadn’t known that.

“Oh yes, she mentioned it a couple of months ago in passing but according to Ben it’s pretty serious but he seems to like the guy. And more importantly, the guy seems to like and care for Ben so that earns him brownie points in my book.” Dean rambled on, actually too exhausted to filter his speech.

Cas nodded, smiling a little wider again, gently rocking the child who had pulled his face into a deep frown, probably dreaming and on the verge of getting upset.

“What about Jodie? She would have been closer to home.” He asked when Sam’s face had smoothed out again.

“Thought about it but I know for a fact that she gave away all the baby stuff she had, most of it a long time ago because it reminded her too much of what she’d lost and the rest of it after Bobby died and she moved, Sam and I helped her with the move and got rid of some of the things. So I guess I’ll have to visit her soon after we returned home but as far as basic baby gear goes Lisa is my only hope.”

That made sense to Cas. They could use Ben’s old stuff for now until they settled down and worked out all the questions this new development brought. Too many things needed considering, where should they live? What about the _Men of Letters_ bunker? What about hunting? Can Dean manage a normal life, a job that provided enough for Sam and him? And what should Cas do? He didn’t dare to even think about the question if Dean wanted him in his life then? No Cas refused to think about the possibility of Dean sending him away for Sam’s sake.

~~**~~

They drove for a couple of hours more until Dean turned into Lisa’s street. It was 5:30 am and Dean felt bad about waking Lisa that early but he knew that they actually were lucky that Sammy hadn’t so much as whimpered so far. It wouldn’t take long until the baby got hungry and/or needed a diaper change. Dean would rather not be unprepared by that time. So better to wake Lisa and apologize a couple of times for it.

Cas waited by the car with the child in his arms when Dean went to the front door and ringed the bell.

The elder Winchester would deny it later but he was chewing nervously on his bottom lip while he waited for the door to be opened.

When it finally did open, Dean looked sheepishly up in Lisa’s surprised face.

“Dean? What on earth are you doing here and at this godforsaken hour?”

The man took a deep breath.

“Hey Lis, I’m really sorry to come here unannounced like this but… I need your help.”

The dark haired woman fixed Dean with a suspicious glare.

“You need my help? What for?”

“Yeah, your help and expertise, I guess. It’s kind of a difficult story…” he turned around and waved Cas to join them. When the former angel came within earshot Dean continued.

“I don’t believe you met before, Lisa this is Cas. Cas this is Lisa.” He introduced, watching curiously how Lisa’s eyes widened.

After he appeared on her doorstep post apocalypse 1.0 he had probably talked a lot about Cas so it was no wonder she looked him over quite intently. But the examination was kind of cut short when her eyes fell on the small bundle in Cas’ arms.

“Dean, is that…?” she asked with a disbelieving tone.

That was the moment the Winchester had feared the most, the small chance that Lisa would kick them out before they even entered the house.

“Yeah, it is. As I said it’s a complicated story but I can explain it to you. Could we maybe come in, please? It’s not really a story for the neighbourhood.” He sighed.

It was like this reminder that they were still standing at the door shook Lisa out of her shocked surprise.

“Yeah sure, of course. Come in. Hello Cas, it’s good to finally meet you, Dean talked a lot about you the last time he was here.” She said as she let them inside.

The former angel nodded.

“Thank you, you too; I’ve heard a lot about you as well.”

Dean remembered the house well enough and made his way to the kitchen immediately, waiting in front of the coffee maker.

“May I?” he asked the minute Lisa entered the room also.

“After you got me out of bed two hours earlier than usual? By all means.” She laughed and gestured for Cas to take a seat.

“Can I offer you anything else? Are you hungry? I could make breakfast if we are at it already.” She asked, smiling at the grateful look on Cas face.

He had been hungry for a while now but hadn’t said anything. Same as Dean, he counted them lucky that Sam had been quiet all this time and didn’t want to risk that for a break.

“I could do it.” He offered hesitantly. “It’s the least we can do for appearing here out of nowhere, if you hold the baby in the meantime?” He shot Dean a questioning glance which Lisa followed as well. The Winchester nodded, already finished with preparing coffee.

“That’s actually a good idea.” Dean agreed and started rifling through the fridge.

“Alright then, you boys make breakfast and I’ll take care of the babe and then you’re going to explain this to me, Dean Winchester! What’s his name anyway?” she asked after she cradled the baby –still bundled in a way top big shirt- to her chest.

Dean froze, shoulders tensing visibly. He didn’t turn to her when he said silently: “It’s Sam.”

Lisa stared at Dean, then at Cas who nodded helpfully but with a uncertain expression on his face. She reigned her disbelieving squeak in before it could leave her lips and waited more or less patiently, cooing at the small child who had woken up and was regarding her with big hazel eyes.

When everything was on the table and she had taken a first sip of coffee, she sighed.

“Now explain.” She all but demanded.

“Well it was a case, our kind of case… a big, fate of the world kind of thing… you’ll probably see some things on the news sooner or later…”

Dean proceeded to explain to her the basics of what had happened.

A wave of love and friendship hit Dean when Lisa’s eyes welled up with tears when he recounted Gabriel’s death and parting words without even knowing the angel and then consolingly laid her hand on Cas’ own next to her when she realized how tense he had gotten at the mentioning of his brother.

“So yeah, I was hoping you could help us out with a couple of things? You haven’t given away Ben’s stuff, right? And maybe some pointers when it comes to food and diapers and shit? The last time I was confronted with a baby it had been a case and _that_ hasn’t been a normal experience at all.” Dean looked hopeful.

Lisa thoughtfully looked down at the baby.

“You are a quiet one, aren’t you? Nothing like my Ben, I can tell.” She whispered before looking up at Dean again.

“No… I mean, yes I can help you out with a couple of things and information, books and so on. And no, I haven’t given away most of his baby things.” She hurried to say after she noticed the worried wrinkles around Dean’s eyes.

“Thank you, Lis! I can’t thank you enough!” the Winchester sighed in relief.

“Well you could start with the dishes and preparing Ben’s school lunch. He’ll be ecstatic to see you.” She laughed and got up from her chair.

“And you Cas, you come with me to get the things from the attic.” She grinned.

~~**~~

Just like Lisa had predicted Ben had been extremely happy to see Dean again, happy enough to forget about his moody teenage angst he was displaying normally at the moment.

He tried to skip school to spend more time with Dean and Cas, who he liked instantly for some reason Dean didn’t know but was glad about anyway, and the baby. The latter had taken a moment but then Sam had started to blubber and squeal and grin and Ben had been won over.

But Lisa had none of that in the end. The teenager got a ride from Dean however which reconciled him again.

After dropping Ben off, Dean had been sent to buy lots of things, they’d need. With most of the things he only had a vague idea what they were for but he trusted Lisa and diligently ticked off every item on the list.

The Impala was filled with the things Dean bought in addition to a car seat -where Sam was now sleeping in peacefully after being fed and freshly swaddled- a disassembled basic crib, a couple of clothes and lots of books.

Everything else they could figure out back home. They had waited for Ben to return from school to say good-bye with a promise to come back soon and started their journey back to the bunker.

About an hour from home Cas broke the comfortable silence in the car again.

“A lot will change now…” he sighed. “Your whole life will be turned upside down at least if you plan on doing what Gabe made you promise…”  the former angel kept his gaze carefully on the street in front of him but he felt Dean’s eyes on him anyway.

“That’s true…” the Winchester replied slowly, hesitantly. “And I will do my best to keep my promise, it’s the least I can do. But Cas…?” Dean swallowed quickly. “What do you mean _your_ _life_? Your life got turned around just the same… or don’t you want that? Is this your cryptic way of telling me that you’ll leave when we get home?”

Dean blinked, the mere idea of doing this all alone, of Cas leaving… _that_ hit him quite unprepared. He had no idea how his life would go from now on, Sam had always been a priority to him but now more so than ever, everything was uncertain now, unchartered territory but he sure as hell had counted on Cas being the one safe constant in this flurry of change. Had he been wrong to assume?

“No. It’s not that I want to leave, I just thought… well assumed that you probably wouldn’t want me around Sam if you want him to have a real chance at a normal life?” the dark haired man whispered.

The tension coming from the former angel was almost tangible; enough so to rouse Sam from his slumber and make unhappy whimpering noises.

Dean worriedly checked on the baby through his rear view mirror but couldn’t do anything without stopping the car. But Cas turned in his seat and stretched his hand out, gently rubbing the baby’s tummy and letting him swat at his hand uncoordinatedly. Quickly Sam calmed down and dozed off again.

“You are a natural at this, Cas.” Dean sighed in relief but careful to keep his voice low now to not upset his –literal- baby brother again. “And no, absolutely not, I would never send you away Cas, why on earth would I do that? I _need_ you buddy. I can’t do this alone. And you deserve a normal life as much as we do if not more. I won’t hold you back if you want to go but I would _never_ send you away!”

The small smile on Cas’ face at his words looked to Dean like a full on ear-to-ear grin and made his heart swell. Sometimes he wondered how Cas could still be so unsure after all these years.

“Okay Dean. I just thought because I’m a pretty big reminder of the supernatural that wouldn’t be very helpful in a normal life.”

“You see buddy, that’s where you are wrong. You are human now and I mean it in the best way possible. If you had your mojo back, that probably would become a difficult thing to explain at some point but now, like this, you are just a normal guy and as such perfect for a normal life! I want you to be a part of my… our life and I want you to have a say in all the decisions and plans we are going to make.”

The Winchester said this with so much conviction that Cas couldn’t help but believe him.

~~**~~

The closer they had gotten to the bunker the crankier Sam had gotten in his car seat. He’d woken up again soon after the serious adult conversation had been over and refused to go to sleep again.

Cas had done his best to distract the baby from his position but it had been a lost cause. Sam had been hungry and in need of a change. _I think the last residual Grace of Gabriel is wearing off I suppose that’s what made him so peaceful all day today. I fear it’s completely normal baby behaviour from here on out._ Cas had musedwhile Dean had fed Sam the ready-to-use formula Lisa had suggested for a start. It had been a lot more expensive than the other stuff but she had reasoned that it was easier to use while they tried to get settled with all the new developments.

A little later Cas had been on baby duty again while Dean quickly reassembled the tiny bed.

When Sam had been settled in for the night or at least the hours he would sleep through anyway Dean slumped warily in one of the chairs in the control room.

Cas brought him a tumbler of whiskey and sandwiches for both of them. The Winchester had been grateful that they had Kevin relocated during the preparation for apocalypse 2.0, kid needed a safe place to himself if shit hit the fan after all, because he wouldn’t have had the energy to explain everything once again.

“Oh dear god how am I ever going to do this…” he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before taking a generous swig of whiskey.

“For one, you won’t have to do it alone, Dean. I’ll help you in any way I can and I bet there are many more people who are willing to help. And you did it once already. You practically brought Sam up when you were just a child yourself and he turned out amazingly well, I’m convinced that you can do it again!” Cas smiled at Dean comfortingly.

The Winchester looked up and blinked in surprise. He hadn’t thought about it like that but Cas was right. Given the circumstances he had done a decent job at making a man out of Sam. By all means he should be able to do it again and it should also get easier with a stable home instead of moving from motel to motel with a father who turned up and disappeared at random.

He nodded gratefully.

“Thanks Cas, I guess that’s what I needed to hear right now. I think I’ll hit the shower and then the bed now, I’m dead tired. First thing tomorrow I’ll call Charlie, Kevin and Jodie to come over.” He sighed and got to his feet just when a high pitched wail echoed down the hall.

But before Dean could take a step, Cas was on his feet.

“Go on, take that shower, I’ll look after him.” He winked and Dean’s lack of resistance was a testament to how tired the Winchester was.

~~**~~

Although the night had been filled with feeding breaks and crying every three or four hours, Dean felt a lot better the next morning. To be honest Dean had been surprised how easily and quickly Cas and he had slipped into a routine that night despite their lack of real experience.

Sam’s former room had been situated on the entirely opposite end of the hallway from Dean’s; that had been the reason why he had chosen to put the tiny bed in the unused room next his which was luckily next to Cas’ on the other side. So naturally both of them were easily able to hear Sam’s crying and it quickly became a pattern that the first one reaching the room would get the baby out of bed and comfort him and the other made his way to the kitchen and prepare a bottle.

In the morning Dean had managed to get up before Cas and found Sam awake but quietly amusing himself with his blanket. The elder Winchester couldn’t help but chuckle fondly, his memory of Sam at this age the first time was kind of blurry – he had been only four after all- but he remembered that Sam always had the ability to find even the most trivial things fascinating. So yeah, his blanket was the epitome of fascinating.

Dean was leaning against the kitchen counter, Sam cradled in his arms enthusiastically sucking on the bottle when Cas entered the room. He stopped in the doorway and watched the two brothers for a moment. Dean’s expression was so full of love and adoration for the small child in his arms that it was more than obvious that he was born to be a father even if the man himself would deny that.

“Good morning.” He said softly.

“Hey, did we wake you? I actually tried to let you sleep in a bit longer.” Dean greeted him.

“Not at all, don’t worry. I woke up on my own, seems like I adapted to the three hour sleeping pattern quickly enough. How is he?” he explained and nodded at the little one.

“As happy as a baby can be, I guess. He has food and I keep him warm, not much to complain about, I’d say.” He replied adjusting the bottle a bit which earned him a disgruntled noise that made Dean laugh silently.

“So I was thinking that after breakfast I’ll call Kevin, Charlie and Jodie and invite them over this afternoon and then we’ll go shopping for groceries and some more of this ready-to-use formula for Sammy.”

Cas nodded in agreement, the plan sounded good enough for him and they were in dire need of groceries if they didn’t want to live on peanut butter sandwiches alone.

The phone calls were finished quickly. Charlie and Kevin were close by anyway and Jodie agreed readily enough although her drive would be a bit longer. The woman knew Dean well enough to know that if he asked for her help he really needed it.

The shopping trip was uneventful enough also. Since Cas still was unsure about many things in the store he carried Sam while Dean pushed the cart and chose the things they needed. Tired out from eating, Sam slept peacefully against Cas’ shoulder.

Funnily enough though the baby drew a lot of female attention and Cas had to be careful not to lose sight of Dean. The questions and adoring noises made the former angel more than a little uncomfortable but he tried to stay polite at all times. That Sam hadn’t woken was a small miracle. Dean however was too concentrated on getting their things and was blissfully oblivious to Cas’ predicament. Retrospectively that probably was a good thing, suspicious and overprotective brother that he was, Dean probably would have threatened them with his gun to stay away or something.

The big surprise came when they left the store and rounded the car to put the bags in the trunk.

“Hello boys.” An all too familiar voice drawled in a British accent.

Dean’s head snapped up, fixing the smaller man with a glare.

“Crowley…” he growled and instinctively took a step in front of Cas to hide and protect the baby.

“I see the rumours were true after all. I didn’t want to believe it until I saw it for myself. The great moose being turned into a tiny little baby.” The demon said head tilted to the side slightly to catch a glimpse of Sam over Dean’s shoulder.

“What do you want, Crowley? And I have you know that we are not interested in any kind of deal and I won’t allow you to hurt my baby brother! I mean it, come close to him and I’ll skin you.” the elder Winchester demanded.

Cas watched the demon with interest. With the failed hell apocalypse 2.0 he had suspected that Crowley had bigger fish to fry now. Abaddon and he hadn’t been best friends from the get go after all.

“Baby brother, eh? Quite literally now Dean but don’t get your panties in a bunch, I’m not here to offer you a deal nor to harm you. To be perfectly honest I’m here right now to fulfil a deal, boys, otherwise I would have a couple of better things to do right now.” The demon produced an envelope and held it out for Dean.

“What’s that?” Dean asked sceptically but took it anyway, turning the thing over in his hands but there was no writing on it.

“Believe it or not –and knowing you, you probably won’t- it’s a message from your old pal, Bobby Singer. I stupidly agreed to take this little delivery job in exchange for a little help I needed at some point when I was kind of on the run from Abaddon. The details are not of any interest now, thing is that I contractually agreed to give this to you the moment you finally decide to retire.” Crowley explained in a bored voice waving his hand dismissively.

Dean eyed at the former King of Hell suspiciously but ripped the envelope open hesitantly. Another, smaller but thicker envelope and a letter fell out.

Curiously Dean looked at the letter and true enough, it had Bobby’s tiny chicken scratch on it.

~

_Dean, Sam. First of all I’m sorry about the delivery service I chose but I wanted to be sure this reaches you at the right time and as much of a dickhead Crowley may be, he always keeps his deals._

_Now for the important part if this ends up in your hands then that means that I snuffed it and couldn’t give it to you myself._

_I’m not a man of sentimentalities and god knows you are even worse, Dean, but I hope you both know that I always thought of you as my own sons, right? That didn’t need saying, it should have been obvious. Anyway I never gave up hope on you two idjits and still I believe that there will come the day you finally choose to retire from the life._

_There are other hunter’s out there; you two have done enough for this world already you deserve at least the chance to grow old normally. That’s why I started this bank account when you two were kids already and by now there should be more than enough money in there for both of you to start a new life without any troubles. It’s one hundred percent clean money that came from honest work at the salvage yard. It’s also in your name so there shouldn’t be any legal problems._

_Yeah, I guess that’s all. Use it well, boys! You earned it! –Bobby_

~

Dean had to blink away a sudden blurriness from his eyes when he finished reading and quickly opened the other envelope and took out the account book in there. Unconsciously he held his breath when he looked inside and almost let it fall to the floor when he saw the amount of money.

“Holy crap…” he murmured stunned.

“What is it, Dean?” Cas cautiously took a step closer, softly patting Sam’s back when he started whimpering in his sleep. Dean didn’t react however.

Crowley chuckled in amusement.

“Didn’t see that one coming, eh? The old man certainly had a soft spot for you two idiots but he was a good guy with a surprisingly good taste in booze, I have to admit that. Now, do I get to look at the baby moose before I go back to get my throne again? Preferably without any damage to my body?”

Dean shot the demon a warning look but Crowley hadn’t done anything to indicate a trap or a catch of some sort so he had no good reason to deny him the request.

“I promise I won’t touch him.” The demon sighed exasperatedly and hesitantly Dean nodded to Cas who very cautiously turned the child in his arms a bit to let Crowley look at Sam who was looking up with sleepy brown eyes.

An absolutely uncharacteristically soft and fond expression appeared on the face of the demon.

“Aren’t you cute as a button, baby moose.” He muttered before stepping back again. “Well, I guess I won’t see you any time soon again, I’ll be on my way then, asses to kick and deals to make and all that jazz.”

And with a quiet snapping sound Crowley vanished from sight but a small fluffy black dog appeared in Sam’s tiny hands simultaneously which the boy gripped tightly with a gleeful squeal.

“Okay, that was weird…” Cas murmured and looked between the baby and Dean. “Would you care to explain what this was all about?” he asked.

Dean nodded, gave the stuffed animal a dubious look but shrugged then.

“Let’s get all this in the car and I’ll tell you everything on the way home.”

~~**~~

The amount of money of Bobby’s gift surprised Cas when he looked into the bank book later, the gesture itself not so much. He hadn’t known Bobby that long but he had seen how he had treated the Winchesters and the hope he never lost that they would leave their hunter lives behind at some point.

For Dean however it had been a bit of a shock, Cas understood that and gave Dean the space he needed alone when he put Sam to bed. The former angel couldn’t help the chuckle though when Dean came back to the kitchen twenty minutes later muttering something like _I can’t believe that Sam got his first toy from Crowley of all people._

Later that afternoon their guests arrived one after the other with varying degrees of worry.

Kevin who had been the only one to know more of the details of their last case had relief written all over his face when he saw Dean and hugged the Winchester before he joined Cas in the kitchen to help him with the coffee preparation.

Charlie jumped into Dean’s arms the minute she laid eyes on him and almost choked him in the process, mumbling nonstop about how she saw things on the news and had easily deduced that it wasn’t faulty wiring but actually a Winchester case and that the reason she was there had something to do with that.

Jodie was the most straightforward of the three, she too embraced Dean tightly and looked intently in his eyes and demanded to know what happened.

“I’ll tell all of you in a minute, come sit down and have some coffee.” The dark blonde man said, gesturing her inside.

After introductions had been made Kevin looked anxiously between Dean and Cas. He hadn’t known that the initial plan had been for Sam to sacrifice himself so he saw no reason for his absence. Gabriel had been in and out of the bunker at random however, enough so that Kevin wouldn’t have missed him immediately.

“Dean… where’s Sam?” he asked cautiously. The man in question shared a slightly conflicted look with Cas. Charlie gasped in response.

“Oh my god…” she whispered causing Dean to turn his head so quickly that he felt dizzy for a second.

“No, Charlie, don’t go there, it’s not like that. He’s sleeping right now, it’s… complicated.” Dean sighed. “But maybe I should get him, he’ll wake up soon anyway and it’s easier to explain, I think. What do you think, Cas?” He looked at Cas again helplessly and the former angel nodded, it had made explaining the situation to Lisa a lot easier after all.

“Okay guys, you’re making me nervous here, could you please tell us what’s going on?” Charlie pressed. Dean got to his feet in response and left the room muttering a _give me a minute._

On his way to Sam’s room he could hear how Cas asked them to try and keep it down when Dean would return since they had observed Sam’s understandable dislike of loud noises.

Dean was met with stunned faces and a colourful mixture of _holy craps_ and _oh my gods_ and Jodie’s disbelieving _is this Sam?_

Cas summarized the main events of the case that had led them here for them while Dean made a quick trip to the kitchen to get a fresh bottle for his baby brother.

“The thing is it’s not going to be easy and we’ll have to be on our guard 24/7 always but I really want to keep my promise to Gabriel and like this Sam has a real shot at growing up normally in a stable environment without the baggage of demon blood, the apocalypse and the whole hunter lifestyle.” Dean said after he’d settled back in his chair next to Cas and had made sure that Sam was happily occupied with sucking on the bottle.

“Sure it’s still far from a conventional home but like Cas has reminded me last night, it was mainly the two of us the first time and Sam turned out well enough, I guess with your support we can manage that again.” He paused, looked at Sam and back up at their guests again. “I hope we can count on your help.”

Jodie shared a look with Kevin and Charlie who both nodded shakily. All the information had caught them off guard.

“First of all, Castiel, I’m really sorry about your brother but I’m also endlessly grateful for what he’s done for you boys and all of us really! And then I think I speak for all of us when I say of course you can count on us, just say the word.”

Cas smiled at the older woman. It was his first time meeting her personally but he liked her and more importantly he could see why Bobby had liked her so much. Her sympathies for his lost family member were honest and he was grateful for that.

“Thank you so much. So I have yet to inform Garth and a couple of the other hunters about everything but as far as I am concerned I’m considering Cas and me retired as of yesterday. And I’m not kidding that’ll be a massive change for me but there are more important things to take care of.” The Winchester smiled down on his brother and gently wiped a bit of drool from his chin. He pointedly ignored the _Awww_ s of the women in the room.

“But that also means we’ll leave the bunker as soon as possible. At the moment it’s alright but it won’t take long and then it’ll be way too dangerous around here for Sam. That’s where you come in, Kevin. I would like for you to take over here, if it’s not too much to ask. At least until we’ve figured out what will happen to all this but personally I couldn’t imagine a better person to continue the _Men of Letters_ legacy. Maybe if Charlie decides to put her genius to good use for the hunter community, you two could start a real working network. But yeah that’s something for another day.” Dean interrupted his sudden flow ideas and readjusted his hold on Sam.

“Wow Dean…” Kevin’s eyes widened. Dean had never been too generous with compliments but this admission perhaps was the biggest one the prophet ever received and he was in Advanced Placement. That Dean wanted to hand his own family legacy over to him made Kevin damn proud.

Dean smiled and looked to the young redhead then.

“For now Charlie, I need your expertise in the search of a new home. I kind of like it here so a house in the general region would be awesome.”

The girl smirked. “One Winchester family home? That shouldn’t be too difficult. But I will need a bit more info on the main requirements later.”

The Winchester nodded to that and turned his eyes to Jodie.

“Yeah, I suppose you have an idea why I called _you_ here today, right?” he said sheepishly and the woman laughed.

“I can guess, yes since I’m of no help with the hunter stuff and the house search, I assume you need me for baby support, right?” she smiled kindly.

“Something like that, yeah. We got a couple of tips and hints from Lisa yesterday but I bet you can tell us a lot easier all the things we’ll need to buy and what to look for. Looking for proper information about these things online and in the books Lisa gave us would take a lot more time than we have right now. And Cas came up with a whole bunch of questions when we were talking before you came.”

Jodie smiled reassuringly and agreed to go over the things they already had and make a list of the things they would need immediately and all the things they should get as soon as they got their new home. With the ease of a mother she took the baby from Dean’s arms and went with Cas and Kevin to the kitchen and later all of them drove to buy the things from the first list.

Dean grinned at the way Cas more or less interrogated Jodie about a lot of important things actually but also some things he was plain curious about. It made the Winchester think that this experience would probably help the former angel with his adjustment to a normal human life. He could now observe the process of learning everything from scratch and experience it second-hand since he never had had a childhood himself.

Charlie grinned at him teasingly while she got her iPad out.

“So Casa Winchester, what am I looking for, a house with a master bedroom, one room for Sam and a guest room or two for us?” she winked.

Dean was in the middle of nodding his head in agreement when he realized what the redhead had said and changed into a vigorous head shake instead.

“What? No, it’s nothing like that Charlie! Cas needs his own space of course. Four bedrooms should be enough. If more than one of you comes to visit at once, someone just needs to sleep on the sofa or they sleep here if we find a suitable place close by.”

Charlie chuckled in amusement.

“Still with the denial Dean? Alright, suit yourself Winchester but you’re not fooling me. Anyway, four bedrooms: noted. What else?”

Dean’s cheeks burned red in embarrassment but ignored the side blow as best as he could. That seriously was a topic he wasn’t discussion with Charlie anytime soon, hell he refused to discuss that topic with himself!

“I want a big homey kitchen, ideally open to the adjoining dining room or something and a garage for my baby or better yet two garages since I suppose sooner or later Cas needs his own car. “ Dean mused.

“Cas would probably like a library or something… maybe we could combine that with the living room? You know one big room lined with books floor to ceiling, a fireplace with fluffy rugs in front, a TV and stereo set on one side with a big sofa and one of these big comfy wing chairs by the windows for Cas to curl up and read in.” Dean nibbled on his lips, half grinning. The image in his head of that room was just plain awesome.

Charlie giggled next to him and punched him lightly on the arm.

“Alright, that sounds amazing and for your sake, I’ll totally ignore this sappy expression on your face now but I’m not entirely sure that there is a house like that…” she said, tapping thoughtfully on the touch screen.

“It does sound amazing, doesn’t it?” Dean grinned. “But honestly, I guess it should fit the general idea, I worked construction for long enough to know what I’m doing if it needs work… it would probably better that way anyway because there is no way I move into I house that isn’t worked over from top to bottom. I may be retired but my house will always be angel/demon/whatever proofed! And thanks to Bobby money won’t be an issue at all…” he sighed.

They sat together for a little longer, going over details even Dean would have forgotten about without Charlie’s inquiry but then the redhead decided that she had everything she’d need and promised to start the search as soon as she arrived home and that Dean would have the first results in the morning.

Not long after that the shopping trio and Sam returned home. The baby was crankier than Dean had seen him over the past two days and it took the whole nine yards of a diaper change, food and snuggling in Dean’s arm while the elder Winchester played with him and the stuffed dog to console Sam.

The three guests had taken their leave then with the promise to visit again soon and be in touch.

Sure they had a shitload of work still to do with informing the community and getting everything else together but with four of his best friends having his and Sam’s back, Dean felt optimistic for the first time that they could make all this work. For Sam’s sake!


	3. Chapter 02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starting new is never easy but with a little help even if it comes unexpected everything is possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay Chapter Two, just some quick things.
> 
> There are some things in here that I described but here are the pictures I took as example. Seriously I browsed so much baby furniture for this.
> 
> So this is [ Crib 01](http://www.kenlauher.com/Portals/40296/images//Baby_Nursery-resized-600.jpg)  
> and [ Crib 02](http://addicted2decorating.com/gallery/albums/nurseries/kirsten-krason-interiors-nursery1.jpg) and their new [ diaper bag](http://us.mamasandpapas.com/content/ebiz/shop/invt/261724400/261724400_xl.jpg)
> 
> Just bit of a visual aid ^_^

_~*~ It’s by chance we met… by choice we became friends. ~*~_

A month went by since Sam had been turned into a baby and life at the bunker resembled a rollercoaster more than ever.

Despite the good start and Sam being a generally unproblematic child so far, Dean had started to push his limits after the first week and halfway through the second week he’d reached breaking point and Cas hadn’t fared a lot better.

It was true that living a hunter’s life one gets used to irregular sleeping patterns and a general shortness of sleep time but living with a two and a half month old was a different ball game entirely. And in addition to that they had a lot of other work to do as well.

So after a memorable afternoon in the second week when Kevin paid them a surprise visit only to find Sam lying on his patchwork play blanket in the middle of the library quietly giggling to himself playing with his stuffed dog with Dean and Cas left and right of him, passed out and dead to the world, they decided that they needed to change something.

As much as they enjoyed taking care of Sam together during the night –although that was something they _never_ talked about- they figured out a schedule for who was on baby duty when after that to guarantee more sleep for both of them.

It took a bit of time to adjust to that but it worked in their favour and after they had gotten the hang of a regular nap-, bath- and bedtime routine Sam even started to sleep for longer stretches at night.

The obligatory new parent dark circles were etched under Dean and Cas’ eyes anyway but between the two of them they made it work and even got other work done as well.

The news of the ‘Winchester retirement’ travelled quickly and Dean felt like he had talked with about every hunter he ever met in his life over the past month. Everyone wanted to know what had happened because obviously a Winchester just didn’t do retirement without a good reason.

In response to what really happened, a handful of Dean and Sam’s closer hunter connections had sent over a nice mixture of protection charms and amulets to keep them safe. Cas had marvelled at some of the wooden ones since they –as he explained- were really old and very rare.

Garth –much to Dean’s horror- hadn’t joined the protective gear wagon but had gifted them with a hand made sock puppet which Dean quickly put back into the box and hid in one of the storerooms to hopefully be forgotten very soon. His first instinct had been to salt and burn the thing but it was a gift after all.

Aside from all that, they had spent most of their time looking for their new future home with Charlie and Kevin. After the initial discussion about requirements and ideas every time Dean checked his e-mails and found new pictures and descriptions of houses from Charlie he gaped in awe. In the end they had singled out a handful of free houses in a surprisingly small radius around the bunker and had started to visit them.

In the end the decision had practically made itself.

It had been house number four of the day, about twenty minutes from the bunker. There had been a sloping gravel path leading to a –for all intents and purposes- _huge_ two-storey building. Not that they had seen that from the street since the house was partially hidden behind trees and bushes. And from the small grainy picture Charlie had shown them beforehand and the description they hadn’t expected it either.

All of them looked in awe at the old house that could have come straight from a fairy tale.

Dean had re-checked the paper work with Charlie and quickly started an argument with the redhead that the price of the building couldn’t be right since it was abnormally cheap considering its size.

Charlie had countered that it had been abandoned for a couple of years now, that it would need a bit more work than the others before and –after a bit more prodding- she grudgingly had admitted that there were a couple of ghost stories surrounding that house. But Charlie knew enough of the life and what to look for to assure Dean that all of that were false rumours. Nothing supernatural, bloody or creepy ever happened on that property.

Meanwhile Cas had entered the house with Sam in his arms and started to explore. By the time Dean and Charlie had followed him in, he had decided already.

_I want this house!_ He had said when he had met Dean in the hallway. _It’s perfect and absolutely beautiful. Sure there are many things that need to be fixed, a couple of windows are broken and there are no garages yet but otherwise it’s exactly what we were looking for!_

If the combination of the location, the price and his own first impression hadn’t already led to the same conclusion, Dean probably would have changed his mind after this enthusiastic statement from Cas. But the former angel was right. The house despite its age and abandoned state had so much potential and thanks to Bobby they had more than enough money to fix everything up and add a garage next to it. There was more than enough space after all.

So they had found a house and as soon as the paperwork had been done and Dean officially owned the house, they had started planning each room.

One afternoon Dean and Cas had taken Sam’s patchwork blanket and food to their new home and just started planning together. They shared ideas for every room. It had been so easy that Dean had just stared in amazement at Cas when the former angel described his ideas and images of their future home. Everything fit together perfectly and to say that that didn’t scare Dean would have been a plain lie.

The two of them fit together like two puzzle pieces and complimented each other. That was something Dean never had before not even with Lisa and that was about the closest to a domestic family life he ever experienced. But they had to work for it, talk and learn each other’s habits. Dean felt like he never had to do that with Cas, whatever they started they did it effortlessly as if the could hear what the other was thinking. They were the best of friends but could there be more? Now that they had to take care of a baby and not save the world on a regular basis anymore?

~~**~~

So over a month after the fateful case Dean was now pouring over his laptop with the extensive list of things they would need in Sam’s room courtesy to Jodie. He was clicking through pages and pages of suppliers, comparing safety information, designs and prices while a team of carpenters, electricians and plumbers –hand picked by Charlie- worked the house over. Initially Dean had wanted to do at least some things himself but it was just impossible to do. There was never enough time.

So Charlie hired the lot of them and even had convinced Dean to let her redirect a bit of money from companies all over the world to pay for everything instead of blowing all of Bobby’s money –or what remained after they had bought the house. Charlie’s argument had been that it wouldn’t hurt them and that without the Winchesters and Castiel there wouldn’t _be_ any companies anymore, so they basically owed them. After a bit of deliberation Dean had agreed.

“Cas, you have a minute?” Dean finally gave up, he had been looking at two different cribs that fit all the safety regulations and all the other things Jodie had mentioned, he had read about in Lisa’s books and online as well for more than twenty minutes. Both were perfect in their own right but he just couldn’t decide.

The former angel was sitting opposite of Dean and a couple of seats down the table with books and papers strewn all over the place. He had started to go over everything the _Men of Letters_ had collected about angels and to correct the files or add more useful things. He looked up when the Winchester called.

“Sure, what’s the matter?” he asked getting to his feet.

“I need your honest opinion. Which one do you like better? I just can’t make up my mind.” He gestured at the computer screen and the two pictures.

The first crib was in a warm chocolate brown coloured wood with turnery on the four corner posts. Nothing too fancy, just enough to make the crib look special in a classy kind of way.

The second crib was all straight lines without any decorations. What made this one special in its own right was the colouring. The main frame with head- and footrest were painted a clean white while the sides seemed to be the same chocolate brown colour as the first crib.

“Mmh…” Cas contemplated both pictures. “I like the first one. They are both nice but for some reason I like the first one better. It looks… warmer, more comfortable.” He tried to explain.

“And look, there is a matching changing table in the background with enough drawers and space for everything.”

Dean smiled brightly.

“Perfect, the first one it is.” With two quick clicks the second picture was closed and the first one was added to the shopping cart.

Conveniently there was a link back to the matching changing table and after a look at the description that also was added to the cart.

“Awesome, thanks buddy, two things down from the list and only about a hundred more to go… why do babies need so much stuff?” he sighed and looked tiredly at the former angel.

“I have no clue. But I know for sure that my back will thank you for buying the changing table.” Cas agreed rubbing his own eyes and then his back. Dean chuckled but silently agreed with his friend. The makeshift changing table they used at the moment was too low to be comfortable or healthy for their backs.

“Having back pains? Yeah, being human sucks that way. You know Lisa always told me that my backrubs were magical…” he offered without thinking, paused when he caught a glimpse of Cas’ stunned expression and instantly flushed. “Er, I mean…”

“I’d have to see that for myself. I mean I trust Lisa’s advice when it comes to child care but I’m not entirely sure that I want to believe her word in that case without seeing for myself.” Cas muttered, cheeks tinted a cute pink as well and struggled to keep eye contact with Dean.

Rarely in his life Dean had been as grateful to his baby brother for interrupting him as he was then when a high pitched wail echoed through the bunker. He was on his feet in seconds to check on the little one.

With a bone deep sigh Cas fell back on his chair, leaned back and directed his gaze at the ceiling. _Oh Gabriel for once in my life I could really use your help now._

~~**~~

A couple of days later Dean had started to pack up his few belongings and then Sam’s old stuff. Luckily neither of them has had a lot of things and since he planned to leave most of his weapons at the bunker too, it was even less.

He was just making a note on one of the boxes when his phone rang.

“Yeah?” he answered it gruffly, hoping that Sam wouldn’t wake up from the noise.

“Hey Dean.” Kevin’s cheerful voice came through the phone. “Just wanted to check if the plans for the weekend still stand?”

Dean agreed, they had planned a meeting to decide what would happen to the bunker after they moved out. With a little hesitance, Dean had invited Garth over since he was kind of the mission control centre of the hunter’s community ever since Bobby’s death. He liked the guy but with everything that was going on and Garth’s ever present energy, he dreaded the visit a little.

Anyway they had a couple ideas how to make real good use of the _Men of Letters_ information with Kevin and Charlie’s help and they needed to talk them through with Garth.

“Awesome, I’ll be over for lunch then, I guess. How are things going at the house?” the prophet wanted to know.

“Fine, I think. I went over the day before yesterday and I have to admit the guys Charlie hired did really good work, couldn’t have done it better myself. They installed the kitchen yesterday apparently, hopefully that went without hitch. Cas and Charlie are over there right now to check and go over the paint plans because that’s next on the list before they are doing the floors. When that’s done Cas and I will go over to make the whole thing angel and demon proof from top to bottom. If everything goes according to plan it should all be done before the weekend.” Dean said and made his way to the kitchen while he talked to get a cup of coffee.

“Wow, these guys really work fast but then it was Charlie who hired them, right? Shouldn’t have expected any less. Right and when do you plan to move?” The younger man asked.

“Well, given that everything works the way it’s planned, the new furniture and everything should be delivered middle of next week. I don’t want to move Sam until mostly everything is in its place so I guess the weekend after this one or something. But we can talk about that when you come over.”

They ended the call soon after. Dean quickly finished his coffee and took the opportunity that Sam was still sleeping peacefully to prepare a lasagne for dinner.

When the pasta was in the oven, he silently entered the baby room to wake Sam otherwise his baby brother wouldn’t sleep by bedtime.

Gently rubbing Sam’s stomach he roused the baby who made a series of disgruntled and sleepy noises.

“Hey baby bug. Yeah, I know I’m a terribly mean guy for waking you up but you don’t hear me complaining when you do the same thing every night, right?” Dean murmured with a smile, lifting the small child out of bed. “You know, sometimes I miss my big baby brother but not getting a bitchface for saying stuff like this is nice too.” He chuckled and softly nudged Sam’s nose.

As if to prove Dean’s statement wrong, Sam scrunched up his face in response to that and shot Dean a discontented look which was as close to a bitchface glare as a baby is going to get. Dean laughed.

“Yeah, right. I haven’t said anything.”

~~**~~

Neither Dean nor Cas could really believe it when they walked through the house for the first time after everything had been set up. Sure it still looked a little sterile like a show house for furniture since the personal touches were still missing, the little things that just happen when you live somewhere for long enough, the things that make _home_.

The only room that already had something resembling to a homey feeling was Sam’s room. Charlie had gone all out without overdoing things.

The room was painted in a bright and friendly but neutral yellow which gave the room a comfy atmosphere with the warm sunlight streaming through the window. The curtains were adorned with little pirate’s boats and in front of the crib was a big and fluffy dark blue rug (with a Devil’s trap painted on the underside just in case).

Against the light coloured walls the furniture stood out even better. The bed and changing table on opposite ends of the room with a rocking chair on the other side of the window in the same dark brown colour as the rest. Charlie had gotten them a small shelf filled with children books ranging from _This little Chick_ and _Dear Zoo_ to _The Hobbit_ and the first _Harry Potter_ book. On top of the shelf was a complete set of the _Winnie the Pooh_ stuffed toys.

Next to the changing table they had a bigger dresser for Sam’s clothes and a couple of other things. But the absolute eye-catcher of the room probably was Sam’s name painted on the wall directly above the bed in big dark blue cursive letters elaborately framed in what looked like a random design but really was a series of protective sigils courtesy to Kevin.

When Dean had seen it for the first time he had choked up a little, he couldn’t help it. He had wondered if things would have gone a little differently if John and Mary would have had something similar already. But the thought was useless he would never know and should concentrate on the present.

But finally everything had been brought over everything worked and was ready to go. The only things missing were groceries and Sam who was being looked after by Jodie who had come over to return the favour and help with the move.

“Dean before we go and get Sam… I bought something for you the other day. Actually it’s for Sam but I was thinking of you when I got it.” Cas said smiling, pulling Dean to Sam’s bedroom once again one hand warm around Dean’s wrist.

He stopped just for a second at his own room to get the package. “There you go.”

The Winchester was pretty confused to say the least but also amused.

“Cas have I told you recently that you are exceptionally weird sometimes?” He took the package and opened the lid. Inside he found a night light that was designed to project small stars on the ceiling.

“I’ll take that as a compliment for now and no, not today you haven’t. Do you like it? I was thinking of placing it on the book shelf, like that it won’t keep him from sleeping because of too much light. But there is another button on the side, that’s actually the real ‘present for you’ part.” Cas explained excitedly but Dean could also sense a slight nervousness in his voice.

They had never mentioned the backrub conversation again but ever since both of them were a bit hesitant when it came to giving things to each other. Curious anyway Dean plugged the lamp in and pressed the button.

It took a moment to register but when he recognised the soft melody that was playing his eyes widened and for a second he was in danger of doing something stupid like kissing Cas.

“Cas…” he breathed stunned, blinking away a sudden wetness. “That’s amazing!”

The former angel sighed in relief.  
“Do you like it? As I said I saw the lamp and there was this offer to personalize the music and I remembered that you told me about how your mother used to sing _Hey Jude_ to you as a lullaby… well.”

“Thank you, buddy!” Dean whispered and pulled the dark haired man into a tight hug.

~~**~~

When they returned to the bunker later, groceries in the car, to get Sam and the last of his things they were met by an exhausted looking Jodie with an inconsolably crying baby in her arms. Charlie and Kevin both looked kind of helpless and unspeakably happy to see Dean and Cas.

Dean rushed down the stairs looking worriedly at the older woman.

“Hey what’s the matter?” he asked taking over the crying boy and cradling him close to his chest, softly rocking him and making soothing noises.

“To be honest, I have no idea. I’m kind of on my wits end. I fed him, he’s gotten a fresh diaper. Charlie tried reading to him, I tried singing, he didn’t stop for longer than a couple of minutes to catch his breath it seemed for the last half an hour or so.” Jodie looked at the still sniffling and weeping baby thoughtfully.

“If you guys hadn’t appeared I would have called you soon. Figured that he maybe was just missing you, it was the first time both of you left for that long after all.” Kevin admitted sheepishly.

Cas had come to a stop close to Dean, watching the flushed and snotty baby face in concentration. The elder Winchester recognised that look as Cas’ _mentally going through all the information I ever read about anything_ look. In this case though Dean did the same.

“I suppose you already ruled out a fever or tummy ache?” the former angel asked Jodie who nodded solemnly. Sam had calm down a bit in Dean’s arms but was still whimpering for some unknown reason.

Cas hmm’ed and then left the room only to return back moments later with the two bigger duffle bags from Sam’s room and their brand new diaper bag, a denim messenger style thing that did not look like a diaper bag at all on first glance. Dean had been very particular since they had to take the bag wherever they went with Sam and he refused to be caught with some flowery thing.

Opening one of the bags he quickly found what he was looking for somewhere near the bottom.

With a grin he returned to Dean’s side again, all eyes on him and the black stuffed dog in his hands.

“Hey Sammy, look what I found…” he cooed softly and gently nudged the tiny hands with the dog.

It took only seconds for the baby to notice and fist both hands into the soft fur with a wet but happy little squeal, all tears forgotten instantly.

Every single one of the adults let go of a sigh, part relief and part frustration.

Dean was shaking his head incredulously.

“Seriously Sammy? You throw a teary tantrum because of the dog _Crowley_ gave you? And here I was thinking I had a chance to prevent your affinity to demon gifts.” He grumbled.

“Dean!” one extremely amused and three appalled voices admonished him simultaneously.

“What? It’s true!” he only retorted indignantly causing all of them to laugh.

~~**~~

Their surprising peace broke however a couple of days after the move. While getting boxes and things sorted out at the house, they had accumulated a list of things they still needed. Cas wanted another shelf for his bedroom, Dean planned on stocking up his kitchen and invest in some cook books.

The former angel had been diligently reading every parental guidance book and journal he had gotten his hands on and had convinced Dean to stop by the baby store again to get some more books and toys for Sam.

So they had gotten out the stroller and had gone shopping once again. In all his life Dean never had spent as much money as he had spent over the past month and a half. It was kind of crazy but then they were trying to build up a completely new life from scratch so it wasn’t exactly surprising.

They were standing in the baby story, Cas in the books section and Dean softly rocking the stroller and browsing the toys section when Dean’s ever present hunter’s senses tingled. Something just didn’t feel right.

They hadn’t paid much attention to the fact that they were the only customers in the shop when they had come in, they were early after all but looking at it now it was kind of suspicious.

Dean looked around tensely when he heard the door click shut.

“Cas?” he called out manoeuvring the stroller against a wall and positioning himself in front of it, one hand behind his back on his gun. Old habits die hard and a good thing they did, obviously.

The former angel had noticed it too apparently and stood by Dean’s side only seconds later, Ruby’s knife in hand. He had taken to using it after he lost his ability to hide the angel blade on a different plane and it was kind of impractical due to its size.

Only moments later, three –on first glance- normal looking people surrounded them, normal looking until they flashed their black demon eyes at the hunters.

“Dean Winchester and his pet angel, so the rumours are true!” one of them spat.

Dean drew his gun and clicked the safety off.

“For some reason I’m having déjà vu again, do all of you get the same script downstairs?” Dean growled back.

“What do you want?” Cas demanded to know, voice cold and hard.

“We want to finish what was started. Queen Abaddon wasn’t pleased about your interference with her plans.” Another demon snarled and flashed a knife out of nowhere.

Dean huffed without humour. “Seriously, your _Queen_ Abaddon should have known better than to try or did she really think after we stopped the whole shebang the first time we wouldn’t bother to do it again? And doesn’t your _Queen_ have other problems to deal with right now? I have it on good authority that there is another regime change taking place downstairs. And all that aside, I’m retired and have no intention on wasting my time with you.”

He lifted his gun the moment one of the demons took a quick step forward and lifted the knife but was forcibly stopped mid-movement.

“Ah ah ah… It really is difficult to find good personnel. Honestly guys, I’m disappointed, in a baby store? In front of a _baby_? Really? No sense for appropriate time and place. Oh yeah and your Queen Abaddon is a thing of the past, you really should check the news at times. Where were you lot hiding the last few weeks?” Crowley drawled, casually leaning against the toy shelf and shaking his head.

“Crowley!” Cas and Dean both gasped in surprise while the demons yelped in horror and disgust.

“The One and Only, darlings!” And with that he snapped his fingers and two of the three demons vanished in thin air while the third who still was invisibly held back gaped.

“And you, I hear as much as one squeak from you and I’ll evaporate you into non-existence like your little friends. Now run along and tell everyone else to leave the Winchesters and their little angel alone or I take care of their punishment personally and seriously you should consider taking the time to remember _who_ taught Alistair all of his little tricks.” With another snap the last of the attackers vanished and Dean blinked.

“You? What the fuck? I mean what the actual fuck?” the Winchester growled, trying and failing to wrap his head around this new bit of information.

With all this commotion Sam had woken up and was crying until Cas got him out of the stroller and rocked him soothingly.

“Dean, Dean, Dean. Not in front of the baby… but yeah, I forgot you’d met Alistair. Where did you think he learned all that stuff? Now to more important things, how is your darling baby brother? And how’s retirement treating you?” Crowley grinned and it sent chills down Dean’s spine.

“Sam’s fine! What do you want, Crowley? What was this little theatre all about?” Cas asked distrustfully, following the king of hell with his eyes as he sauntered closer.

The demon chuckled. “This? I just saved your cute little butts that’s what this was all about.” He grinned, flashing his teeth. “Oh dear, human children do grow fast, don’t they? Especially the darling baby moose.”

“Oh shut it Crowley. That’s not what Cas meant and you know it. We may be officially retired but that doesn’t mean that I can’t handle three lousy demons. So why did you interfere and what is your fascination with Sam? Do you plan on dosing him with demon blood too?” Dean snapped, finally overcoming his surprise and getting with the situation at hand.

What just happened was just too surreal, had _Crowley_ really just helped them? And even better had he really just sent out a clear message that they were kind of under his protection now? That was just too weird and wrong on so many levels.

Crowley sighed and it sounded kind of disappointed and even a little hurt maybe if Cas was completely honest. And wasn’t that a curious thing.

“What is it with you, just because I’m the king of hell again and kind of stabbed you in the back all the time in the past I can’t help for a change? You have to understand that I am a man who hates to be in debt and I kind of managed the get my throne back only thanks to you. So now that you have decided to retire the least I can do is to respect that and keep my people off your ass to pay my dues. And keeping tabs on you makes it amazingly easy to sort out the remaining minions of Abaddon. Plus I admit I do have a soft spot for the baby moose since _he_ dosed _me_ with his blood, not the other way around I’d like to remind you.”

Dean fell quiet for a moment and thought _well fair enough._ One look at Cas told him that the former angel was thinking the same thing. What Crowley was saying had some twisted logic and it was true with everything that happened in the past the demon honoured his contracts always. That didn’t mean that he could be trusted.

“Let me summarize that again just so we all are on the same page here. The Winchesters and I are kind of under your protection now and won’t be attacked by your demons. You are keeping tabs on us because whoever _does_ attack us is on your blacklist anyway. And all that because Gabriel’s sacrifice and our closing the portal gave you the opportunity to reclaim your throne _and_ because you like Sam.” Cas started to grin at the absurdity of the ordeal.

“Basically.” Crowley shrugged and took a step forward looking at the baby but made no move to touch him.

Sam regarded the man with big and curious brown eyes, scrunching up his nose in concentration before a yawn took all his attention.

Even Dean began to chuckle along with the other two men. Sam was just too precious and he didn’t seem to have a problem with Crowley. He didn’t know what to think about that.

“Alright. I guess that is kind of a fair deal and… yeah, thanks I suppose. But that doesn’t mean that I trust you.”

Crowley rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Obviously, that would be stupid! Anyway I leave you two daddies to your shopping. Toodles!”

“Is it just me or do you feel like you’re living in a parallel universe as well?” the elder Winchester sighed but got no response from Cas who was preoccupied with tucking Sam back into the stroller.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to, come and find me on tumblr: http://moonlight-petal.tumblr.com


	4. Chapter 03

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our small family, more or less settled in in their new house, face their first crisis and receive assistance from an unexpected corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the read. Please let me know what you think.  
> Also another warning about the canon divergence, I took it to the next level with this one XD

 

 

~*~ _Babies are a link between angels and man_ ~*~

Ever since the exceptionally surprising meeting with Crowley and his proclamation of protecting the Winchesters and Cas the life in their new home calmed down a bit. Dean probably wouldn’t admit it even under torture but he was a lot more relaxed since he knew that someone had his back even if that someone was Crowley. Castiel knew it, he saw it in the way Dean held himself when they were outside and especially that one time they went to the bunker for the afternoon and Dean didn’t take his gun although they stopped on the way to buy fresh diapers. But the former angel knew better than to comment on it, too happy that the elder Winchester embraced his retirement and new challenge so fully.

Cas himself was happy with the new situation as well. He had been a soldier all his existence, to have some freedom to really do whatever he wanted to was amazing to him although he didn’t stop completely. He still was working on the _Men of Letters_ library as well as the mission control centre development in the bunker. Charlie, Kevin and Garth had together with them made an elaborate plan that they were executing step by step. Charlie was building a high-end network system, while Cas and Kevin catalogued everything and Garth and Dean took turns manning the phones for other hunter’s inquiries and the occasional impersonation of a higher up. The things that included Dean and Cas were meant to be temporal for as long as Sam was small enough not to understand what was going on.

So their days were filled with child care, reorganising the bunker and hunter community and slowly making the house their _home_.

~~**~~

They were currently in their living room/library. Cas had brought back a large book and was referencing some things and noting them down in a notebook in his brand new comfy wing chair Dean had insisted on getting for him while the Winchester boys were lying on the floor in front of the fireplace.

Dean had been taking the advices of routines for babies quite seriously and by now they had a nicely going nap- and bed time routine for Sam and in between naps Dean made sure to have some play- and tummy time with his baby brother. Not that it had been easy Sam had proved to be a little fussy in that aspect. The small Winchester had not liked lying face down at first and had made his displeasure known with lots of tears. It had been heartbreaking. And interesting since Sam did pass out lying on his stomach, face smushed into a pillow in almost every single motel they had been staying at before.

But after some time Dean had managed to distract him enough. Cas who should be concentrating on the book in front of him couldn’t help but let his gaze stray every so often. It was just too cute to observe Dean playing with Sam and his black dog and the rattle thing Jody had given them, talking to him about silly little things. In these situations Dean forgot everything around him and especially his own image.

The former angel had gone back to his work for only a couple of minutes when Dean demanded his attention excitedly.

“Cas, look at this. My awesome, genius little brother.” He cooed giddily.

The dark haired man looked up, one eyebrow arched in initial confusion until he broke in a similar bright grin that was lighting up Dean’s face already.

Sam had his face scrunched in concentration as he pushed himself up on his arms and wriggled his whole body until he rolled over on his back with a squeal for the first time on his own.

Cas quickly had his phone in hand and snapped a couple of pictures of the boys on the floor. The phone had been his constant companion ever since he had hidden the Winchesters away from all angels and since he became human it was even more important. Charlie had gotten him a newer model some time ago and now Cas had taken to documenting Sam’s growth and accomplishments whenever he could.

“A little genius indeed but I guess he got the strength from you.” Cas chuckled.

“Your brain and my brawn…” Dean said jokingly and beamed at Cas with twinkling eyes in a way that made Cas’ chest feel too tight with affection.

“It would certainly seem so…” he muttered.

“Come on Cas, take a break from this thing and play with us. It’s nap time soon anyway and you can work some more then.” Dean said and leaned over Sam again, tickling his sides and feet getting a blubbering laugh in response before he gently turned him on his tummy again. Sam pouted at that.

The former angel considered the brothers for a moment, then put the book down on the table next to him, stretching like a lazy cat before joining them on the floor, settling next to Dean.

“I guess I can do that… hey there, Sammy. Look what I’ve got here.” He turned to the infant and held the stuffed toy in front of him, watching Sam focusing on it and then reaching out a hand to try and grab it.

Cas directed his whole attention on the baby and did not notice the look of plain adoration on Dean’s face directed at him instead of Sam.

They played like that for a little while longer before Sam began yawning and whining. When the first big tears rolled down the baby’s face Cas couldn’t take it anymore and picked him up gently rocking him.

“Ah… he’s going to be such a spoilt child… you can’t resist his tears, I don’t even want to think about his puppy eyes.” Dean teased. “But yeah, I guess a bit of food and then it’s nap time for the little man.”

“Don’t pretend Dean, you know as well as I do that you would have done the same thing because you can’t stand to see him cry as well.” Cas answered, grinning good naturedly. “Right, Sammy? Because your brother is just one big softy who can’t deny you anything.”

“Oi don’t tell him that, he might be small but he might believe you and what am I to do then?” Both of them had gotten to their feet and walked into the kitchen where Dean prepared the bottle.

Cas was looking down at the baby who was sucking on the former angel’s finger, drooling all over it without any shame.

“You know, I think we should go and see a doctor with Sam.” He said thoughtfully. He hadn’t meant to scare Dean with that sentence but obviously he had managed just that. The elder Winchester spun around so quickly that he almost knocked over the box with formula powder they had started using now.

With two quick steps Dean was by his side, well into Cas’ personal space and looking at Sam searchingly.

“What makes you say that? Why? Have I missed something?”

Apologetically Cas bumped his shoulder against Dean’s since both his hands were occupied with Sam.

“Nothing is wrong and you haven’t missed anything. I’m sorry Dean, I just thought… in all the books I read they advise a check up at four months just to make sure everything is fine and he’s developing alright. I’m sure he is, I just thought since it’s a new start for all of us, him especially, that regular check ups would be a good place to start.”

Cas trailed off and looked up at Dean uncertainly. But the Winchester had relaxed again considerably while his friend had been talking and nodded in understanding. Cas was right, a family doctor was certainly something they never had.

“It’s fine, Cas. It’s a good point. I read about that too but yeah, we should do that. But we’ll need papers for him and everything. I should call Charlie when he’s napping. But food first, here you go baby bug.”

Cas gently retracted his finger but Sam had no time to whine in frustration at the loss because Dean nudged his lips with the bottle softly and Sam immediately started sucking on it hungrily.

~~**~~

In the end Dean didn’t call Charlie during Sam’s nap as he’d planned to do. He had gotten a call from Garth about some weird ghost case one of the younger hunters was working on. The details Garth explained to him sounded strange indeed but after asking a couple of questions concerning the ghost’s family background they had a better idea what to look for.

Dean had grinned when he had ended that call. It felt nice to help without getting his hands dirty himself for a change. Let the younger ones dig for bones. They just needed to learn how to ask the right questions.

So the call got pushed back to the following day and it was a good thing too because Cas had taken Sam out for a walk, alone for the first time, and Dean was concerned. Not nervous or scared thank you, just a bit concerned. So he set up his laptop and made a video call to Charlie.

“Hey Dean, what can I do for my favourite handmaiden?” The redhead greeted him over the video connection.

“My queen.” Dean gave a little nod. “You have a minute?” he asked and shifted slightly in his chair to get more comfortable. It didn’t work.

“Sure if you tell me what got you so fidgety…” Charlie had her head tilted to the side a bit and one eyebrow arched in curiosity, observing Dean closely. She had had a couple of video calls with the elder Winchester in the course of their friendship but Dean tended to not move at all for some reason. So him changing his position twice already in the few moments the call lasted? Seriously suspicious.

“It’s nothing. Cas went for a walk with Sam, alone. And I doubt he took his gun or his knife with him but it’s cool. They’ll be fine. And that’s not the reason I’m calling you.” He stopped there, interrupted by Charlie’s loud laughter. He glared at the camera. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh Dean, that absolutely _is_ the reason you called me. You are worrying like the proper mom you are. You may have another reason to call me but you needed a distraction, don’t deny it, I’ve seen right through you Winchester. I’m just trying to figure out who you are more worried about, Cas or Sam. Tell me have you grown a pair yet and told him how you feel about him?” The redhead leaned a bit closer to her own camera, grinning at the caught expression that flashed over Dean’s face for just a second.

“What... no, that’s not… Charlie! That’s not what I am talking about. Okay maybe I am a little concerned for Cas and Sam’s wellbeing but that’s it.” He huffed. He was so not going to talk with Charlie about Cas right now. Contrary to popular believe he was no idiot, he admitted to himself long ago that he might have feelings for Cas and the way they were not talking about how they work so well together, the looks and the occasional flirting told him enough to at least assume that Cas felt something similar. He wasn’t completely oblivious, thank you very much. But he also knew that Cas deserved better and now that he was human and finally had a normal life, it was only a matter of time until Cas understood that there are a lot of better guys or girls out there, so no discussing that topic with Charlie. Nope, absolutely not.

“The reason I actually called you is that we need legal papers. I know you whipped up a nice paper trail for me to buy this house. I guess I need that fleshed out a bit and Cas needs the same. The guy still has no proper ID. And most importantly we need those papers for Sam that we can take him to a doctor.” He explained, looked into Charlie’s alarmed eyes seconds later.

“A doctor? Is something wrong with the little man?” Dean quickly shook his head and told her about the check ups and everything.

“Alright, a convincing and thorough paper trail for all of you. That’s no problem at all, might take a day or two though to get everything together. I guess we’ll stick to the story, right?”

When they had fabricated the necessary papers for Dean to buy the house they had made up a story about how their father had married a considerably younger woman after Dean’s mom died who had gotten Sam just two months before they both died in a terrible car crash. That made Sam actually Dean’s half brother but well better than nothing. Being the only living relative, Dean of course took Sam in.

“Yeah, the story is good to go. We maybe need a couple more papers about the crash and death certificates and stuff, just to be sure but yeah, the story stands.” The Winchester nodded, looking out the window searchingly.

“Okay, so yours are already more or less in the making, Sam’s will be easy to put together. Now Cas is interesting. You do realize that the guy not only has no proper ID just in case, he doesn’t even have a surname, Dean nor a birth date or anything. I mean, I can make it all up but I think you should talk about that with him first. I could make him a Winchester too if you want?” she added cheekily.

Dean pinched his nose but couldn’t help the flush and happy flutter in his stomach at the thought of _Castiel Winchester_ but he shook his head again.

“No Charlie, I can’t decide that, you are right. Just get started with mine and Sammy’s. I’ll make sure to talk about this with him and call you back then with some info to start from.”

“Sure thing, no trouble. But yeah, I got the message that you don’t want to talk about it but I say it again, you should grow a pair and tell him, maybe that would solve that problem on its own. Tell him, get your own happily ever after and make him a Winchester the old-fashioned way. You already act like you are married and have the house and the baby anyway.” She rambled on.

“Charlie, stop it please.” He sighed and the redhead threw her hands up in defeat.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop but you certainly are the most thick-headed idiot I know.”

“So I’ve been told yes, thanks for your help Charlie.” Dean smiled at her and waited only long enough for her to call a quick _bye_ before he cut the connection.

~~**~~

Something was wrong. Dean knew it the moment Cas entered the house. Sam was crying and it sounded weird. It wasn’t his _I’m hungry_ crying, nor the _I need a diaper change_ one or even the _I’m tired_ one. It sounded distressed and entirely wrong to Dean’s ears.

Within seconds he was out in the hall where Cas was trying to sooth the baby, rocking him in his arms and trying to put the stroller in its place by the door at the same time.

“What happened? What’s the matter with him?” Dean asked worriedly, taking care of the stroller with a quick shove in the right direction.

Cas looked at Dean with wide eyes, worry obvious in them.

“I have no idea he suddenly started crying and didn’t stop since then. I turned around immediately and tried everything I could while outside already. He just doesn’t stop.”

The baby’s face was already flushed red from all the screaming and crying when Dean leaned a little closer.

“What’s wrong baby bug, mh?” Dean murmured carefully keeping his voice calm to not let Sam sense his distress about the situation in addition to whatever was bugging the baby.

“Maybe you should take him, maybe he just doesn’t like being alone with me…” Cas started turning a bit more to Dean to let him cradle the infant in his arms easier.

For a second Dean looked away from his crying brother to send a disbelieving gaze in Cas’ direction, shaking his head slightly at the despairing expression.

“Don’t think that Cas, Sammy likes you just fine, that’s not it. Something else is bothering him, I’m sure we just need to find out what. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

As if to prove his point, Sam didn’t even pause in his crying for a second as Dean took him in his arms, rocking him and gently feeling his forehead ruling out a fever for now.

Cas ran a hand over his face and sighed. Dean saw the tension in his shoulders, the deep worry lines in the corners of his eyes and it was obvious that Cas barely held back from pacing the hall.

“Hey stop worrying so much. It’s going to be fine. That’s what babies do, remember? We just have to find and eliminate the cause and keep him safe while we do it. It’s just like with cases Cas, calm down.” He tried to at least reassure the former angel if he can’t calm his brother for now.

“The lore won’t help us with a crying baby, Dean.” Cas stopped and stared at Dean with wonder in his eyes.

“How can you be so calm about this? There could be a thousand things wrong with him, you’ve read the books too. You _know_ that!”

They walked into the living room while they were talking and Dean chuckled lightly.

“You think I’m calm? And here I thought you know me better, Cas. I’m most definitely _not_ calm but it doesn’t help to make Sam even more upset with showing him how worried I am. You read the books, you should know _that_ too. Now go and get yourself some tea or something and calm down.”

Cas mouth snapped shut as he realized that Dean was right, he made the biggest mistake of them all, he let Sam sense his own distress. What a stupid mistake. He let go of a shuddering breath and let his head hang.

“Sorry, I should have known better… I just feel a little useless right now, I guess. I haven’t missed my angel powers in months but I do now. Before it was just a matter of seconds to find out what’s wrong with him and make it better.” He murmured dejectedly and made to turn and go to the kitchen as instructed but Dean held him back instead.

Cas hadn’t even realized that Dean had stepped closer while he’d spoken.

He blinked in utter surprise when he felt a gentle hand cup his neck, stroking the hairs there and massaging lightly the muscles there.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it. There is no need to feel like that, millions of parents have done it for centuries before us without angel powers, I think we can manage. We just have to learn what’s the matter with him when he cries like this, we did it before, remember? He is telling us something just like when he’s telling us that he’s hungry or tired, okay? We just have to decipher it first. You’ve done more than fine without your powers so far and you will continue to do so. You make a good dad, believe me.”

Cas looked up with a slight blush on his cheeks. Dean’s face was only mere inches from his own and his green eyes shone with sincerity and worry. The strong hand on his neck sent spikes of pleasure and love down Cas’ spine and his heart skipped a beat.

“You think so?”

The elder Winchester held his gaze for a moment longer and nodded but before he could say more Sam’s crying which had changed to whimpering for a while gained in pitch again which broke the moment and their attention turned to the baby again.

“Now what’s bothering you, little man?” Dean murmured and proceeded to lay the baby down on his play blanket in front of the fireplace. Gently he felt the forehead again and then touched along the stomach. Sam’s crying increased a little in volume and he started kicking wildly but it didn’t feel wrong to Dean. So maybe Sam had a bit of an upset tummy, most likely the result of too much air intake while crying but something told Dean that that wasn’t the main problem here, they had encountered light tummy aches before but Sam never had kicked up a fuss like that then. So no, that probably was just a reaction to whatever was bothering his brother initially.

Cas knelt next to him unsure as to what to do other than follow Dean’s every move with his eyes and hope for the best.

“Alright, Cas could you please go and warm up the cuddle pillow?” the Winchester asked and send a quick smile Cas’ way before concentrating on Sam again, gently rubbing his stomach in circular motions which lead at least to a slight decrease in volume again even if it didn’t calm the baby boy down entirely.

It didn’t take the former angel long to return with the small pillow filled with cherry stones after microwaving it. They placed it on Sam’s stomach and counted it as a win when he neither tried to get it off of him nor started crying louder again. It seemed like the warmth soothed at least a bit of the distress just like Dean’s tummy rubbing had before.

\--

An hour and a half later they were as clueless as before. They had managed to feed Sam a bit of chamomile tea in that time but he didn’t stop crying. It came in waves now, changing between loud crying and wailing and whimpering and sobbing. To be quite honest Dean couldn’t decide which was worse. They had swaddled him, Cas had gotten the _Hey Jude_ night light from Sam’s room, they had tried distracting him with his toys, reading to him and the pacifier, everything failed and Sam was still inconsolable.

At some point Dean had given Jody a call at the station and asked for her help but after explaining to her what they had tried already even the older woman had to admit defeat from her position. To give advice from a distance was a bit difficult in these situations. She just told them to try and keep Sam as calm as possible to prevent a hiccup which would definitely lead to an even worse tummy ache.

“Aw Sammy if only you could just give us a hint to what’s bothering you…” Dean sighed tiredly. He was developing a rather vicious headache already not to mention that he couldn’t stand seeing the distress of the baby. Cas had taken over the tummy rubbing duties for a while and was concentrating fully on that.

“ _Or_ you could just ask someone who can look into the head of the little one.”

Both men in the living room whipped around at the sound of yet another familiar bored British drawl they hadn’t heard in a long time.  And true enough leaning against the only open window of the room stood Balthazar, dressed in a familiar jeans, shirt, suit jacket combo, looking amused and bored at the same time.

“Although I gotta say, Cassie, this whole ‘playing unconventional family with two dads and one baby’ does look good on you. And you finally got rid of this horrible trenchcoat.”

“Balthazar? What… why… You are _dead_!” Cas stuttered, blinking in surprise and with an expression of bone deep guilt on his face.

Without thinking about it Dean scooped Sam up in one arm protectively and put the other on Cas’ back in quiet support, watching the angel suspiciously.

“Yeah well, I was, you did a fantastic job there but hey no hard feelings. So this whole guilty face is not necessary. But daddy dearest didn’t just resurrect Gabriel who obviously went directly to you to get himself killed again. For good this time, I might add. No the whole family is back together, well almost. You are still here taking care of the Winchesters after all. But other than that and Gabriel everyone is back upstairs. Everyone says _hi_ by the way.” Balthazar explained nonchalantly.

Castiel gaped disbelievingly but Dean stopped in his tracks at the information and fixed the angel with a hard stare.

“Wait a minute, by everyone you mean…”

“Ha and here I was thinking that the moose was the clever one of the two of you. Full marks for the Winchester, got it in one. Yes, I mean _everyone_. Daddy is back in town, at least for now, and he took everyone back into the fold. Believe it or not but Michael and Lucifer are the most reasonable ones. Raphael is still a bit prissy about everything but he seems so come around slowly and funny enough without the whole ‘let’s start the apocalypse and destroy the world’ in the picture Mike and Luci do make an awesome team. Well anyway… how about we postpone the catch up and put the little one out of his misery and everyone else along with him.”

“Michael and Lucifer… I can’t believe it… but yeah you are right, so what’s the matter with Sam?” Cas asked most definitely overwhelmed by all the news but Sam’s crying had gained in volume again since the attention had shifted to Balthazar and Dean’s softly stroking thumb on his back was a bit distracting also.

“Well I wouldn’t know, would I? You have to bring him here for me to have a look since I can’t come inside thanks to your pretty thorough warding… Good job with that.” the angel sighed dramatically.

Dean hesitated sceptically but caved in the end and got to his feet.

“Alright but no funny business, we still have an angel blade on hand…” he warned before he stepped close enough to hand the baby to Balthazar through the window, chewing on his bottom lip nervously.

“Aren’t you a loud little thing, hm? Distracting the whole heavenly host from their duties with your crying, let’s see what seems to be the problem.” Balthazar murmured gently placing two fingers on Sam’s forehead and closing his eyes in concentration.

“Mhm... I see…”

“What? What is it?” Dean and Cas asked in unison looking expectantly at their visitor.

“Well the thoughts of a baby aren’t as clear as adult ones yet, you know that I suppose, so I can’t tell you exactly what’s the matter but I can tell you that whatever is bothering little Sammy has its source at his right foot.” Balthazar told them, amusement in his voice obvious. The two men in front of him really were hopeless. The mutual attraction had been obvious years ago and they were acting like a married couple already but they still refuse to talk about it. It would be really hilarious if it wasn’t so sad at the same time.

Dean took Sam from Balthazar again and went back to the play blanket, lying him down and gently undressing the baby to check his right foot. Cas waited by the window watching every move anxiously.

“It’s the little things… wasn’t that what every damn book said, Cas? We _are_ stupid sometimes I guess…” Dean said while he tickled Sam’s feet checking every toe carefully until he found the problem, a hair wound around one tiny toe interrupting the circulation there. Nothing an adult would even register probably but a source of great distress for a little child.

Quickly the problem was dealt with and a little stroking, poking and tickling later, Sam was dressed and laughing again. A sense of great relief blossomed in Dean’s heart as he saw his baby brother happy again.

Cas shared the feeling and a smile grew on his face when he heard the happy noises again.

“Well, thank you, I guess Balthazar. You really helped us out here. Now tell me how did you know and what was that about the heavenly host?” Dean asked curiously now that Sam was calm.

“Ah, yeah well…” the angel started.

“To some extent we… _they_ can hear every baby in heaven. Something about babies being a connection between angels and men. But normally it’s more background noise, nothing that really registers…” Cas explained quietly.

“That doesn’t hold entirely true for this little bundle of joy though. It’s no big deal when he’s happy but he is _loud_ when he cries. It really tests your concentration. We assume that it has something to do with Gabriel’s grace. He used it to turn Sam back and wove some of it into his soul, not unlike Cassie did with yours, Dean. But that strengthened the connection with heaven and now every time the little darling is unhappy… let’s say we collectively share your fate. It’s not as bad as it sounds now but today it really got distracting after some time… personally I’m so not looking forward to him teething… but yeah it was decided that someone should have a look and since nobody thought it would be a good idea to send Michael, Lucifer or Raphael and Anna argued that you wouldn’t be too happy to see her as well since she tried to kill you the last time you met, I was the lucky winner. Yay!” Balthazar explained doing an exaggerated celebratory gesture at the end of the statement.

“It was the most logic decision, yes…” Cas agreed and of course it was. Dean would have never let an angel unknown to him take Sam and the other four were out of the question. That left only Gabriel and Balthazar and since Gabriel died who else could they have sent who Dean and Cas wouldn’t have tried to send back immediately.

“It was indeed…” the angel smirked and clapped his hands together. “Well my work is done down here and I must be off, reconstructing heaven does take quite a bit of time and I believe the little darling must be hungry after all this crying. I am convinced however that I’ll see you again soon enough. Otherwise, Cassie you know what to do, a quick call is all it takes. Oh yeah and the others were wondering if they could come down too sooner or later, just warning you… Good afternoon.”

Balthazar took a step back and with the distinct sound of fluttering feathers he vanished into thin air.

~~**~~

Balthazar had been right that afternoon Sam had been hungry and thoroughly exhausted. The baby fell asleep with the bottle still between his lips, it really was adorable.

Dean and Cas didn’t talk about the things they heard from Balthazar at first, both trying to sort their thoughts out for themselves.

In the evening though they took care of Sam’s bedtime routine together instead of just one of them like they normally did. This first bigger crisis left them a little rattled and they both needed to see Sam happy for a bit longer.

They were both standing next to the bed watching the already sleeping baby while _Hey Jude_ was playing in the background and the ceiling was illuminated by stars.

“I would never have thought that retirement would be like this… not that I ever really believed that I would live long enough to go into retirement… but now look at us, Sammy is a baby again with his whole life ahead of him still, us finally free to do whatever we want under the protection of the King of Hell and with the whole of the heavenly host watching over Sam, including Michael and Lucifer… it’s just so twisted…” Dean murmured thoughtfully, turning his head to regard Cas in the dim shine of the night light.

“It is I can’t disagree… it feels like suddenly –after what Gabriel did- everything we ever tried to hunt and fight against turns out to be on our side. It’s weird but for some reason it seems to work. And it really was nice to see Balthazar again. After of all the wrong I did my siblings over the last couple of years, his death I regretted the most. And if it really is like he said upstairs… I think I’d like to meet the others as well they are my family after all. I do understand if you don’t want to have them anywhere near Sam though.” Cas caught Dean’s gaze and there was something soft and pleading in them that Dean just couldn’t deny anything.

“No if it really is like that I think it’s okay… they can’t enter the house for now anyway so we are still safe here. You are helping me with Sam after all, the least I can do is to not stand in the way when you have the chance to reconnect with your family. I want you to be happy, Cas. You and Sam are _my_ family.” It took the elder Winchester a good deal of self control not to grab Cas’ hand when he said that, figuring that it would look a bit weird and could give away Dean’s last secret.

Cas had noticed the twitch of Dean’s muscles, however and took it as a kind of invitation to lay his hands over Dean’s on the bed frame. The former angel swallowed thickly, trying to gather his courage.

“Dean… heaven, the other angels… they will always be my family but you and Sam are the family I chose for myself. You are the ones I will always choose if I have to decide between one or the other. You are the most important people in my life especially now that I am human. You remember the night Gabriel died? You weren’t the only one who made a promise that night. Gabe had been trying to convince me to say something for a long time then already. It was never easy especially with the constant cases but now… I promised Gabe to own up to my feelings Dean… my feelings for _you_. As it is… I am in love with you, have been for years now even if I didn’t know what it was I was feeling for you back then when I still had my powers.”

The dark haired man had turned his eyes back to the sleeping infant in the crib. He couldn’t bear to see Dean’s immediate reaction to his confession. True, he had the suspicion that Dean felt the same and people had told him so on various occasions as well but Dean had always been the first to deny himself a bit of happiness. So there was a good chance that he would be rejected anyway.

Dean for his part felt a bit thunderstruck by Cas’ confession. His heart had skipped a beat and then raced like mad at the words but his stomach twisted painfully at the same time. What should he do now? He had promised to himself not to tell Cas about his own feelings, not to bind him to his side when he should go out and experience the world as a human on his own. But if he kept his silence now he feared he would hurt Cas even more and lose him entirely after all.

“Cas, I… I don’t know… wow shit… I don’t know how to say that… it’s… I do feel the same way, god knows it took me long enough to admit that to myself… but the thing is, Cas… I don’t _deserve_ you. You deserve so much more, you always did. And now that you are human and free to do what you want… I shouldn’t be the one to hold you back. You deserve to explore the world and find a guy or a girl who can show you the wonders of being human without all this baggage and most of all you deserve someone who hasn’t dragged you to hell and back, literally. I’m no hunter anymore, but I’m a guy who reads parental guidance books and cookbooks in bed at night now, you deserve _more_ than that, Cas.”

Cas squeezed Dean’s hand tightly, waiting for the Winchester to finally look at him again before he started talking again.

“Tell me Dean, where could I experience the wonders of being human better than right here with you watching Sam grow up? Right here with my family and the person who saved me in more ways you can imagine. I’ve been a soldier all my life, having a home and a domestic life is the real challenge here and _please_ let me be the one to decide what I deserve. I chose you. I’ll always choose you, Dean!”

The elder Winchester listened carefully but couldn’t possibly believe what he was hearing. But above everything Cas was telling him in so many words what really struck home with Dean was the look in Cas’ eyes. The clear blue and beautiful eyes that told him without the shadow of a doubt in them that _this is the life I want_.

And Dean knew that this would backfire in one way or another, it always did but he decided to be selfish for once anyway and take what Cas was offering him. With ease he turned his hand under Cas’ around and tugged him closer, putting his arm around Cas’ waist and pressing a soft kiss to Cas’ temple.

“Alright.” He whispered in his ear.

That was the last they talked in a while. Cas’ face split in a bright smile and they shared a long loving look before they both turned their eyes on Sam again who was still sleeping peacefully with a smile on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to chat, please come and find me on tumblr: http://moonlight-petal.tumblr.com/


	5. Chapter 04

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The peaceful life of the little family gets threatened but they are not alone~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the chapter. Personally I had a couple of problems with it while writing but I think it turned out okay after all. It's a bit of an in-betweener. But I can promise you now the next one will be exceptionally fluffy!  
> Oh and I'm sorry about the delay, I was out of town all day yesterday and couldn't make it...^^

 

~*~ _I got my heart’s desire and there my troubles began_ ~*~

 

Dean was sitting at the table in their living room surrounded by books. Cas had been in charge of Sam’s bed routine that day and the elder Winchester was writing notes about different baby food recipes.

After Charlie had sent them Dean and Sam’s new legal papers about a week after they had talked about them, the small family had gone to visit the doctor. It had been a gruesome ordeal in Dean’s opinion. Sam had cried through the whole check-up and Dean and Cas hadn’t been able to do anything about it without getting in the way of the doctor.

But the man had been nice enough to assure both men that it was completely normal behaviour and nothing to worry about. Especially in their case with Sam losing both parents and having to get used to someone new already.

And even without Sam’s crying Dean had been tense, gripping Cas’ hand so tightly that it must have hurt but the former angel hadn’t complained about it. In the end everything was fine. Sam was healthy and developing normally.

It had been the doctor who suggested trying the first solid foods. He explained to them that Sam was on the bigger side for a baby of just under five months and could use the extra energy in addition to the formula.

So here Dean was, reading and comparing recipes he wanted to try because he decided that he could make Sam’s food himself, he didn’t need the premade stuff all the time. With the formula he had no other option but now he got his chance.

“How does it go?” Cas asked quietly, one hand gently on Dean’s shoulder, looking over it on the various notes.

Dean turned to look at the former angel with a smile.

“Fine I think. Now Sam only has to like the things I want to cook. How was the little man?”

Cas chuckled softly, massaging Dean’s shoulder lightly with his thumb.

“Oh I’m sure he will and he was good, went to sleep peacefully halfway through _The very hungry caterpillar_ like always.”

The Winchester huffed a little.

“Yeah, _always_ with you. I have to read the book to the last page every single time before he finally falls asleep. I guess your voice is a lot more soothing than mine.” He grinned, laying his own hand over Cas’ on his shoulder, looking deeply into the blue orbs of the former angel.

Things had been really nice between them since the night of their confessions. Although in all truth not much changed between them which probably was a testament to how they interacted with each other before already. They hadn’t really kissed yet but they had gotten even closer than before. Casual touches were more than just accidental now, holding hands at times, warm embraces at others and flat out cuddling on the sofa in front of the TV on the rare occasion. It felt a whole lot like ‘shy first high school romance’ and it was awesome. They waited for this so long there certainly was no rush _now_.

“Or the book sounds more interesting to him when you read it, who knows. The important part is that he actually falls asleep.” The dark haired man yawned and rolled his shoulders to relieve some of the tension there.

“So what’s our plan for tonight?” he asked letting go of Dean and walking to his wing chair, unceremoniously slumping into it with a sigh.

The Winchester chuckled softly. Cas looked always tired after he tucked Sam in, the combination of the calm atmosphere in Sam’s room, with the soft light, the music and pretty unexciting books put the baby to sleep most of the time but Dean suspected that Cas if left alone with the baby would have fallen asleep in the rocking chair almost every single time.

“Well you look tired. I’m tempted to drag you to the sofa and shamelessly cuddle you to sleep but that wouldn’t do your shoulders and neck any good for one and I actually should talk to you about something Charlie keeps bugging me about.”

A slow smile spreads over Cas’ lips at the idea of snuggling up to Dean and just go to sleep but the end of Dean’s sentence made him open his heavy lidded eyes all the way again. Dean sounded so… serious, almost a little uncertain.

“What is it, Dean? Is something wrong?” he questioned cautiously.

“Ah no, sorry nothing’s wrong… it’s about your legal papers and ID and so on. Charlie pointed out that we have practically no information to go on so far. You have no surname, no birth date or anything and we figured that you should have the say in that, since it’s your identity.” The dark blond man looked at Cas apologetically. So far it had never been an issue and somehow it felt to Dean as if this need for information now would strike home the restrictions of humanity to Cas again. He didn’t want to hurt him.

Thoughtfully Cas nodded. He probably understood Dean’s train of thought even better than the Winchester himself but the truth was that Cas wasn’t bothered by it at all. Sure he had missed his angel powers when they couldn’t calm Sam down but other than that he had told the truth about not missing them at all. He had made his peace with becoming human after they managed to send his brothers and sisters back to heaven and was glad even because it meant this life with Dean was actually possible. They could grow old together as sappy as it may sound.

“I see. I’ll think about it and send the information to Charlie tomorrow. Was that all you needed?”

Dean blinked, he hadn’t actually expected for Cas to take that so easily.

“Yeah, no that actually was all. You do that then Charlie can get to it soon. Uhm Cas… just out of curiosity, do you know what name you’ll take because Charlie can make you a Winchester without trouble, you know? God knows you pretty much are one already.”

And no, Dean didn’t sound a tad bit hopeful there. Not at all.

Another slow smile pulled on Cas’ lips as he caught Dean’s gaze and held the eye contact.

“Would you like that?” he had expected the hesitant nod without question. “Without a doubt, I would be honoured to bear the name but no, it’s not the one I will send to Charlie. I think I will honour the memory of Jimmy for some time longer and go by the name of Novak for now.”

The unspoken _at least until you’ll make me a_ true _Winchester_ _at some point_ shone clear and heavy in his eyes.

Dean’s cheek flushed red in the blink of an eye and he quickly averted his eyes with a stupid grin on his lips. That had been more than he ever dared to hope for.

Cas grinned as well and got to his feet again, stepped closer to the Winchester again.

“Now if that indeed had been all, can I take you up on your first suggestion? I would quite like a bit of cuddling on the sofa… and maybe –if my back really does hurt tomorrow because of it- I’ll remind you of your offer for the backrub that you issued a couple of weeks ago.”

Dean’s head snapped up at the playful flirtatious tone of Cas’ voice. He hadn’t expected that as well but he certainly liked the former angel’s way of thinking. Wordlessly he got to his feet as well and took the offered hand of Cas, pulled him over to the sofa and into his arms.

~~**~~

The next morning, Sam was fed and happy, Dean quickly packed the diaper bag and Cas strapped the baby in his car seat. The plan had been that Cas and Sam would spend a bit of time at the bunker with Charlie, mainly to work on Cas’ papers and ID while Dean went grocery shopping for his cooking experiments.

But the departure got delayed a bit when Dean struggled with fitting the stroller in the trunk of the Impala.

Baby had a big trunk but with their hidden weapon compartment, it wasn’t as big as it could be. Dean had emptied quite a bit of the compartment already but not enough to remove the lid. He was still a Winchester, still a trouble magnet. Hell would freeze over before he would go completely unarmed for long. Sure he had left his favourites at home before but only because he knew there still was enough in the car.

But now that precaution proved to be a bit of a problem. When they had bought the stroller, they had borrowed a bigger car since they had to gotten a lot of furniture stuff that day. Dean never really had thought about the possibility that his beloved car could be too small. Coming to think about it is was a bit of a mystery how they had managed on their drive back from Lisa’s.

“Huh… thinking about it, now I understand why Sam never had a stroller before…” Dean grumbled under his breath.

Cas heard him anyway and smiled.

“Well she isn’t exactly a family car, is she? Despite the fact that you practically grew up in her.”

Dean glanced at Cas before his eyes returned to the car. Memories of his and Sam’s childhood flashing through his head and he shook his head with a sad expression.

“True but she was our home for as long as I remember… after mom died… well I rarely talked with Sam about it and he used to envy my memories of her and of our home back then… but the truth is I barely remember her myself.” He paused. “Anyway I would never have thought that I’d see the day when she fails me.”

The former angel sensed the melancholy emanating from Dean and quickly slung his arms around his waist, hugging him from behind with his chin gently resting on Dean’s shoulder.

“She didn’t… we can make it work, Dean. We don’t need to take the stroller today, it’s not like we planned on taking a long walk with Sam anyway. We just have to take out the lid to use the whole of her trunk and everything is fine. And…” he hugged Dean a little tighter to stop his interruption. “…we’ll figure something out for the weapons. For one it would be a lot more sensible to have some on hand in the glove compartment. And then… you know her best, I’m pretty sure you can find a way to hide a couple of knives or whatever in the doors or something.”

Dean listened carefully to Cas’ ideas, tried to imagine it while the other talked, already making plans on how to do it. A slow smile spread on his lips and he relaxed more and more against the dark haired man.

“I like the way you’re thinking, why didn’t I think of that before? I mean seriously that would’ve been pretty helpful sometimes. Thank you.”

Cas didn’t say anything to that. He knew how much Dean loved his car and that he –with everything that was changing around them- he needed at least that one constant. And he was quite fond of the Impala himself if he was completely honest.

“Isn’t that a heart warming picture right there? Congratulations on finally getting the memo.”

The two men broke apart and turned around immediately, facing Crowley in instinctively defensive stances.

“What do you want Crowley?” Dean growled, looking the demon over with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh don’t be snappy darling, I thought we had established that I’m on your side here. Actually that’s why I’m here…”

Cas took a careful step closer to the car where Sam was sleeping in his seat.

“Why is that exactly, you told us already that you keep an eye on us.”

“Yeah as disturbing as that is…” Dean muttered but was ignored by both men.

“Oh I do but I thought you might be interested in knowing that I’m currently tracking one especially annoying creature.” Crowley sighed, inspecting his finger nails with a bored expression.

“And you are telling us… why exactly?” Dean asked, quickly losing interest in the conversation.

“Ah can’t rush the highlight now, can I? The thing is, this specific miscreant was not only a minion of Abaddon but also one of Azazel’s more clever wingman who went into hiding when you killed his boss.” A smirk played over his face but there was an obvious tightness around the demon’s eyes that betrayed how serious he was.

“What?” the Winchester’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Now that got your attention… But yeah as far as my information tells me he’s now -that Abaddon is out of the picture as well thanks to you- pissed enough to go after you himself. And he managed to escape me so far… so I figured telling you to keep you on your toes would be the smart thing to do. You _are_ welcome.”

“Oh man, just when I thought things were calming down and this retirement thing could work out.” Dean ran a hand through his hair when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

“It will, nothing’s changed we just have to be careful until we or Crowley can get our hands on this guy.” Cas said softly and Dean turned his head in his direction, gently covering the hand on his shoulder.

With a smile Cas leaned even closer and murmured only for Dean to hear.

“And we both know that we aren’t the only ones looking out for Sam.” He meaningfully glanced upwards and Dean nodded.

“Right, thanks for letting us know, we’ll keep an eye out for him.” The blond turned to Crowley again.

“You two really are sickening, you know that? I really thought it couldn’t get worse than your constant pining for each other but I freely admit I was so wrong! Ta!” With that the demon vanished from sight.

A deep growl escaped Dean’s throat and Cas chuckled.

“Calm down, tiger. He’s just teasing and you know it and he did warn us after all. Come on now, Charlie’s probably waiting already.”

~~**~~

When Dean had returned after his shopping trip, Castiel had been proud owner of a neat stack of official looking papers with his new identity and personal history.

Curiously he stepped next to the dark haired man, one arm immediately curling around Cas’ waist without much thought and started to flip through the papers.

His first glance was directed to the ID and the new driver’s license, both to the name of Castiel Novak, born October 21, 1974 in the state of Illinois.

The following papers were a colourful assortment of school records, extra curricular stuff and a special honours certificate in addition to a degree in World History from the University of Kansas.

“Special honours, huh? I always knew you had it in you.” Dean grinned with an amused smile.

“Dean, you do realize that these are forged papers…” Cas chuckled from his side.

“Sure but that doesn’t matter much, I know that you would get special honours on your own anyway, I mean you saw World History happen, how could it be any other way?” the blond took the driver’s license in his hand again.

“That means we probably should start with your driving lessons soon, hm? Ah no worries, I’ll teach you how to drive real quick and seriously if you can drive baby you’ll be able to drive every other car as well. I know I learned to drive in her and I taught Sam in her as well. And you are lucky you know? You got a really nice picture for your driver’s license.” Dean grinned.

“That’s what Charlie said…” Cas turned in Dean’s arms to face him and wrap his arms around Dean’s neck. “And I do trust you to teach me how to drive… I mean considering how much time you spent behind the wheel of this car, you probably have more driving experience than any other teacher.” He stated, looking back at the license card in Dean’s free hand, carding his fingertips absentmindedly through the short soft hairs on Dean’s neck.

“Holy shit!” Charlie exclaimed excitedly behind them when she entered the room and saw the two men. Startled by her Sam let go of a loud whine in her arms and she immediately cooed at him again, rocking him up and down again. “Sorry Sammy… but seriously guys! It took you long enough, I’ve been waiting for you to grow a pair like forever and then you don’t even have the decency to inform me. Dean, I’m really disappointed with my handmaiden! Details guys, now!” she demanded.

Cas looked a little taken aback by Charlie’s reaction but Dean was laughing.

“No details Charlie there’s not much to tell. And actually…” he looked fondly at the former angel again. “…actually Cas had been the one to say something first.”

With wide eyes the red head focused on Cas again.

“ _Thank you_ , you saved me from taking more drastic measures to get this idiot to finally speak up.”

“Erm… you’re welcome.” It sounded more like a question than a statement but Charlie didn’t comment on it. Cas looked back to Dean probably a little confused as to why their personal relationship was everybody else’s business but grinning anyway.

“Now are you satisfied with the papers?” Charlie asked while gently laying the baby down on his play blanket.

“They are perfect Charlie, you are a genius after all and I expected nothing less.” Dean said and made the girl laugh again.

“Yeah, stop the exaggeration, Dean. Not necessary I know I’m awesome!”

“And most certainly blessed with an enormous amount of self-confidence.” Cas murmured, stacking his papers again and packing them in the back of Sam’s diaper bag. They would go back home soon after all.

~~**~~

Dean’s first tries at making their own baby food went well enough but then there wasn’t a whole lot that could go wrong with apple sauce, mashed potatoes and carrots.

In fact the first self-made apple sauce never made it even near Sam before Cas had gotten his hands on it. It had started with a spoonful offered by Dean to taste and soon after the pot had been almost empty and Cas had a happy smile on his lips.

“Alright memo to self, double the amount when making apple sauce.” Dean had chuckled and started soaking a bit of cereal in some of Sam’s formula instead.

“It really tastes good.” Cas had said in his defence but didn’t feel any remorse.

Feeding the things to Sam had been a bit more adventurous. The child had taken to the mashed carrots quickly but the potatoes needed more convincing and had landed just about everywhere but in Sam’s mouth.

The elder Winchester had read how to handle that specific problem though that children’s taste buds were still developing and if they didn’t like something at first to try after a couple of days again. So he did and two weeks after the initial mashed potatoes trial run Sam ate the stuff with glee.

The thing was Dean knew Sam loved the stuff, had loved it the first time around so why would it be any different now. It sure was helpful to know what food should work and what to avoid without trying everything and risking the fresh paint on the wall.

But all wasn’t well in the Winchester-Novak household even if Sam was growing and developing well. Ever since Crowley had warned them about the demon who’s after them, Dean had gotten tenser every day.

Cas tried his best to keep Dean calm since it had started to rub off on Sam as well. For the past week Sam had been crying more and more again, needless to say that both of them were running on very little sleep as well.

Dean was standing in the kitchen once again, peeling and cutting up carrots for another pot of mashed carrots for Sam as well as their dinner when a shiver ran down the Winchester’s back. Something felt wrong as if he was being watched.

Covertly he scanned the outside through the window but didn’t see anything. He was just starting to convince himself that he imagined it when there was a clattering noise outside.

“Cas?” he called out, putting the knife down and wiping his hands on a dishtowel he went to the hallway where he met the former angel.

“Did you hear that?” he asked curiously and Dean nodded tensely.

“Came from outside…” Together they stepped out on the porch and looked around. It didn’t take long before Cas let out a relieved breath and tapped Dean’s shoulder indicating an empty bucket that had fallen over.

“Probably just a stray or a bird or something…” he muttered and pulled Dean back in the house again. “Nothing to worry about after all.” He added lightly and with a smile pushed Dean back in the direction of the kitchen.

The Winchester wasn’t so sure about that but followed Cas’ lead anyway and returned to his work in the kitchen concentrating on dicing the vegetables into similar sized pieces.

A suddenly appearing shadow and rapping on the window startled him enough to let the knife slip and cut cleanly through his thumb.

“ _Jesus!_ ” he snapped as he looked into the grim faces of Balthazar and Anna through the kitchen window.

“Cas! Your family is visiting! Oh and bring the First Aid kit please!” he called and wrapped the dishtowel around his thumb.

Quicker than expected Cas hurried in the kitchen.

“Dean, what did you say? What’s wrong!” he asked worriedly, looking out the window just then to see his siblings standing outside.

“Small cut, nothing important… Sammy’s still sleeping?” Dean asked proceeding to the sink to wash out the cut before he could put a band-aid on. When Cas nodded, he gestured to the back door.

“Go on then, they are waiting, I’ll be outside in a minute.”

When the elder Winchester did come outside his heart stuttered and his shoulders tensed involuntary at the sight of Balthazar and Anna’s still grim faces –the latter scanning the surroundings with a soldier’s determination- while Cas looked downright worried.

“What?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and with a guarded expression.

“They say that there is a demonic aura around the house… and it’s not Crowley’s.” Cas explained confirming Dean’s suspicions.

“So not a stray after all, I gather? So the bastard found us…” he said, voice calm and matter-of-fact. At his words the two angels focused their gazes on him.

“What do you mean by that?” Anna demanded.

“That Crowley warned us a couple of weeks ago that there is someone after us who seems to be smarter than the average demonic dumbass and more than just a little pissed at us… Hello Anna, by the way.”

Anna inclined her head in acknowledgment of the greeting when Balthazar turned his head to Cas again.

“And why don’t we know about that, Cassie? Seriously you should know better than that!”

“Oi!” With two quick steps Dean stood next to Cas one hand firmly at the small of his back. “Leave Cas alone, Balthazar! We are more than capable to look after ourselves. We were warned that’s what’s important and all that aside, I was thinking that you see and know about everything upstairs.”

The nostrils of the blond angel flared and the words _Gabriel begs to differ_ were almost tangible between them but before Balthazar had the opportunity to say something Anna interrupted them.

“That isn’t exactly true we know most of the general things concerning Cas, you and Sam but thanks to your pretty elaborate warding around the house there are some severe holes in our information. And when it comes to demon activity, well Castiel will confirm that apart from the time of the apocalypse we don’t monitor that in great detail. So it would be helpful if you could inform us about things like that in the future.”

The red headed angel smiled at them although she was still poised for a possible attack although their house had proven to be safe already before.

“I believe your brother is awake.” She added after tilting her head a little to the side, a lot like Cas always did.

The Winchester nodded and excused himself to go and take care of Sam.

“So, brother dearest, I kind of still am questioning your taste in men but I believe congratulations are in order anyway.” Balthazar started, gaining a nudge to the ribs by Anna and a half-hearted glare by Cas.

“Oh don’t listen to him, he’s just jealous because he’s back on duty and can’t enjoy the ‘earthly pleasures’ like before anymore. Congratulations Castiel, I believe your taste in men is impeccable.” Anna grinned.

“You should since yours is exactly the same!” Balthazar snorted which made the red headed angel blush and reminded Cas of the fact that Dean and Anna actually had history.

“Thank you, I do consider myself lucky!” he replied, observing Anna’s blush reservedly but Dean’s return with Sam in his arms made him refocus. The child was whining and struggling to his best abilities in his brother’s embrace.

“Ah there he is the bane of our existence…” Balthazar grumbled but a smile was tugging resolutely at the corners of his lips.

“It’s not his fault Balthazar.” Anna chastised. “May I hold him?” she turned to Dean who hesitated for a split second, quickly looking at Cas who nodded imperceptibly.

“Alright, but he’s cranky so be careful…” just when he uttered the words and Anna had settled the baby boy in her arms Sam calmed down.

Dean groaned in exasperation. “Yeah, thank you Sammy, I got the message, you don’t like me anymore.”

The other three chuckled in unison but Cas pulled Dean closer into his arms.

“It’s not that he doesn’t like you, Dean, you know that. You’re just tense, you need to relax…” he said softly which set Balthazar in motion again.

“Yeah, not exactly keen on being a part of this specific conversation and we should return anyway. Anna, you coming?”

The red head nodded and handed the baby over to Dean again.

“Be careful, we’ll be in touch again soon. And take good care of this cutie pie!” she winked at Cas leaving it to his imagination which Winchester she had been referring to.


	6. Chapter 05

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Winchester charm creates unity if faced with a common enemy and Sam retains the ability to render everyone speechless even as a baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a bit more action in this one and the reunion with old friends...

 

~*~ _A man's enemies are those he should endeavour first to make his friends._ ~*~

The week following Balthazar and Anna’s visit due to the demon lurking around their house nothing out of the ordinary happened; nothing besides the fact that Dean was going a little bit crazy inside although he tried hard not to let it show.

He had been tense already when the demon appeared the first time but now that Sam’s six months mark was steadily approaching it got even worse. He spent hours in Sam’s room at night, curled up on the rocking chair, watching his baby brother sleep.

If he did sleep that was because Sam had taken to crying through the night again. At first Dean had blamed himself –naturally- for making Sam feel uneasy and upset but then Cas had tried giving Sam a cool washcloth to suck and nibble on which had worked wonders for the discomfort of getting his first tooth apparently.

It was another such night close to three am, Sam had finally calmed down and fallen asleep but Dean made no move to leave the nursery.

“You know there is no way for anybody to enter this room we don’t want to, Dean.” Cas’ calm but reprimanding voice sounded from the doorway.

The dark haired man was leaning against the wall, observing the Winchester intently.

Dean had tensed considerably since he hadn’t heard Cas come in but his shoulders slumped quickly again.

“I know Cas, I know that… objectively. But I’m pretty sure my mom was thinking the very same thing back then.”

“Your mother was a hunter but she denied her past and she had made a deal, I wasn’t there but for some reason I doubt that she had warded Sam’s nursery back then the way we did. No harm will come to Sam, Dean. But I’m afraid that you will collapse sooner rather than later if you keep this up for much longer.”

Silently the former angel had stepped closer and slipped one arm around Dean’s waist, looking down to the sleeping baby as well in a quite similar fashion as they had done the night they had admitted their feelings for each other.

Dean turned his head slightly to regard Cas, the dark circles under his eyes, the tired but content expression on his face. He still couldn’t believe that they were here now, together, out of the life-style, protected by heaven as well as hell to some degree. It was weird.

It was a spur of the moment type of thing when he leaned closer quickly and pressed a soft kiss to Cas’ cheek.

“I won’t, don’t worry. I made do with a lot less sleep before, I’m fine. I know you’re right, Cas but better safe than sorry. I refuse to let anything near Sam… and him being about six months old… it has a lot of bad memories connected to it… and then with this demon out there…” He sighed again and returned his tired eyes back to the baby.

“You see, I’m making a compromise already… I actually should keep you out of the nursery just to be on the safe side.”

Cas’ head snapped to the side, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t misunderstand me Cas, not because I expect you to harm Sam but to keep you safe. My dad lost my mother in Sam’s nursery, Sam lost Jess the very same way. The people close to a Winchester are never truly safe, you know that.”

Cas turned to face Dean, pulling the other man with him and gently placed his hand on his cheek.

“I understand… bad memories are difficult to overcome… we’ll make sure of Sam’s safety but don’t you go thinking that I would let anything like that happen to myself. I won’t leave you alone, Dean!” they locked gazes for a short moment before Cas leaned in and brushed their lips together softly.

Dean was stunned speechless for a second, blinking in surprise. He still was working on getting used to Cas being so forward and open. Up until then, with every relationship and every hook-up, he had been the one in charge.

“And if you really insist on standing vigil at Sam’s bed then let me at least help you, let’s share the burden because I believe, that’s what couples and families do.”

And what other option did Dean have but to nod at that.

“Good, now why don’t you go and sleep for a couple of hours and I’ll stay here and watch over the little one.” With a bright grin Cas turned them around and pushed the elder Winchester in the direction of the door.

Stunned Dean took a couple of steps before he stopped and turned again.

“But Cas…” he was stopped there already by a lifted hand.

“No buts, Dean. Go. To. Sleep!”

The blond man hesitated for another minute but sighed finally and left the room with a distinct pout on his face.

Cas shook his head, still smiling and turned around to Sam again.

“You Winchesters, you are a handful, aren’t you?”

~~**~~

About three hours later, at almost six am, Dean got woken by an unfamiliar sound over the baby monitor on his bedside table. By now he was tuned in to most of Sam’s noises and knew when to get up and when the baby boy was just making noises in his sleep.

But this was a low rumbling sound, something he hadn’t heard before and it woke him up instantly. Within seconds Dean was on his feet and at the door before cautiously slowing down and approaching the door to the nursery.

The closer he came the louder the rumbling sound got and finally he realized that it sounded like a melody, a familiar melody at that. Silently he stepped closer to the door, looking through the crack.

Cas was sitting in the rocking chair, Sam closely cradled to his chest, slowly gliding back and forth while he was humming to the baby interspersed with a couple of words from the lyrics when he remembered them.

A slow smile spread over Dean’s lips as he pushed the door open a little wider, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed in front of his chest.

Cas looked up with a smile of his own but not stopping his quiet humming.

“Are you seriously singing _Stairway to Heaven_ as a lullaby for Sammy?” the Winchester asked with an amusedly quirked eyebrow.

The former angel waited until he had finished the song before he looked back up to Dean.

“I believe I did, yes. It was the first song that came to mind. I guess you can expose me to some songs only so often before they get stuck even in my head. Your taste in music is rubbing off.” He grinned cheekily but continued to explain then. “Sam got restless a while after you left but you needed the sleep so I didn’t disturb you. I started reading to him what kept him quiet enough but failed to put him back to sleep. I fed him and started the music box. But I freely admit after the fifth time listening to _Hey Jude_ I got a little tired of the song and started to sing myself. It seemed to do the trick as you can see.”

Cas got to his feet slowly and put the child carefully back in it’s crib before he turned and went to Dean’s side.

“He should be asleep for a while now, I guess I’ll go and catch a couple more hours of sleep now as well and you should too, I can see that you are still exhausted but…” the former angel held up his hands and stopped Dean’s protests immediately. “But I know you won’t so why don’t you go and make some of your delicious apple sauce for breakfast. Sam and I would appreciate that a lot.” Cas winked.

Dean only barely suppressed the snort but agreed nonetheless. Cas didn’t ask for things a lot after all so he wanted to please his angel.

~~**~~

Later that day the small family was found in their living room. Dean was sitting at the table thumbing through a book about water deities, trying to identify a specific one for Garth who had called earlier that morning.

Cas was sitting on the floor with Sam on his lap, playing with the baby with a happy smile on his face.

He had brought the stacking blocks down from the nursery and was building small towers, talking to Sam and urging the baby to destroy them every time he finished one.

The baby was squealing gleefully every time the colourful blocks crashed to the floor, getting faster with every tower he kicked over. Soon Sam didn’t even wait for Cas to finish but eagerly grabbed at the blocks and send them crashing. All the while giggling happily and babbling nonstop.

The two men had gotten used to it by now. For the past one and a half months Sam had been emitting sounds and noises that vaguely resembled syllables when he wasn’t sleeping, eating or crying his little heart out. Sammy had proved to be quite the little chatterbox and it made Dean’s heart swell every time. Sam had always had a way with words so it was not surprising that it showed in his development.

A particularly high squeal that sounded just on the edge between happy and upset got Dean’s attention. The blond man looked up and instantaneously locked gazes with Cas who in turn had been watching Dean with a soft smile on his lips.

Unfortunately that had stopped his attention for the baby which had been the reason for Sam’s outburst. The little one had turned around to the best of his abilities and swatted with a blue block at Cas pout blubbering.

However when that turned into a stream of upset _dada_ s accentuated with ill aimed swats both men startled and their looks focused immediately on the baby.

Castiel blinked furiously and blushed faintly.

“Did… did he just…”

It took Dean a moment to overcome his shock and surprise but then a blinding smile split his face and he nodded, looking in the wide eyes of the former angel.

“Oh I believe he did, congratulations _dad_!” Dean chuckled, taking his mobile out and snapping a couple of pictures to commemorate Sam’s next milestone.

Cas was still shaking his head disbelievingly, looking at Sam who was growing more impatient by the second.

“That can’t be right… I’m sure it wasn’t meant like that… the books said that he’s just trying out sounds but he doesn’t connect them with a certain person… it’s not possible that he meant it like that…”

The elder Winchester’s chuckle turned into a real laugh.

“Oh relax Cas, I know what the books say… just enjoy the moment! Besides, Sam is an amazingly clever boy I think even without doing it consciously he does connect certain sounds with the things he sees because he sure as hell never uttered a single dada in front of me. That’s entirely your privilege.”

He closed the book and made his way over to the two people sitting on the floor, gently taking Sam in his arms before the child could start a full blown temper tantrum due to being ignored.

“Right baby bug? You are smart, you know best who you want to be your daddy and I gotta say you chose well, couldn’t have done that better myself.” He murmured to the baby, softly rubbing the tip of his nose against Sam’s before kissing him on the forehead.

“Now how about I make you a bottle and then you take a nap and after that -when daddy Cas has recovered from the shock- we take a walk outside. Sounds good little man?” he kept talking to the baby while walking to the kitchen. And even without understanding a single thing of what his brother had told him, Sam giggled and cheered happily.

~~**~~

They did it the way Dean had planned it. Two and a half hours later they left the house with Sam secure and warm in his stroller, peacefully sucking on his pacifier and cuddling with his stuffed dog.

In the bag on the handle were two bottles with holy water and both, Cas and Dean had guns hidden at their backs and knives strapped to their calves. And although it had been Dean’s idea to take a walk in the autumn sun, the elder Winchester was tense and on high alert, eyes constantly flicking over their surrounding.

Not that Cas was any better but he managed to be a lot more inconspicuous about it.

“Dean… I’ve been thinking… we took great care to ward the whole house against angels and demons before we moved in… but seeing as things are now with Crowley keeping an eye on us and all the angels looking out for us… shouldn’t we have at least one room we can let them into? Especially when it gets colder soon. They probably won’t care about it but I don’t really fancy standing in the cold every time one of them visits.”

The former angel took a quick glance at Dean and his grim expression before he continued scanning the surroundings. It was obvious that the elder Winchester wasn’t happy about the idea but he also understood that Cas was right.

“I mean it doesn’t necessarily have to be permanent. We could install movable wards in the library for example…” he added to his initial idea.

Dean hummed thoughtfully focussing on something in the distance on the edge of a thick line of trees. Yes, Cas was right, he knew that and a part of him told him that he should be allowed to ask his family inside.

“I’ll think about it, Cas. You trust them, I’m not so sure I do too yet. I trust you, however. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll let Crowley into our house, this guy will have to work a lot more for me to allow him inside.”

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas smiled gratefully at the hunter. “Also, I think I’d like to look for work.”

That got Dean’s full attention and he turned his eyes on the dark haired man with the incredible blue eyes. Confusion evident on his face, he searched Cas’ for his sincerity about this idea.

“Work? Like a job?”

A smile played over Cas’ lips as he regarded Dean patiently.

“Yes Dean, a job. I never had one before and it is part of a normal life, is it not? Also I want to help to provide for my family, we can’t live off of Bobby’s generous gift forever. I much rather think we should deposit a good part of it for Sam’s education.”

The elder Winchester blinked. The gravity of Cas’ words, spoken so lightly, shocked him to a stop. He turned completely to Cas and opened his mouth to say something but before he managed to get even a sound out, they were surrounded by over a dozen demons in a wide circle.

It seemed like they had been watching them and had only waited for them to finally stop on their way.

“Oh fuck… we’ll talk about this later…” Dean muttered while drawing his gun and scanning the circle.

He knew when he found the demon who had been after them and who was commanding the others. Now that he looked at him Dean had a vague recollection of seeing his face before when they had been hunting down Azazel.

“Winchester!” he sneered. “How long have I waited for this day to come?”

Dean tilted his head and raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Ah yes and what day would that be? The day I kick your ass just like I did with both your bosses’?” he spat back but obviously a little too loud because inside the stroller Sam startled awake and promptly a resounding wail was heard by everyone present.

The demon’s eyes swivelled to the stroller with the child inside and smirked.

The Winchester himself send a quick glance to Cas and took a protective step more between Cas and his brother and the demon although that was pretty futile if they decided to attack all at once and they knew it.

“You know… I doubt your king of hell would be very happy when he catches wind of this.” Dean tried, hoping against hope that by talking about Crowley and stalling for time the guy got the opportunity to make good on his promise because Dean didn’t kid himself into believing that they stood a real chance against all of them alone.

The demon only scoffed making his opinion of Crowley as the _king of hell_ pretty clear without saying a word. His eyes went pitch black and he smirked, showing a set of crooked but sharp teeth. And that’s when the blood drained from Dean’s cheeks when his gaze fell on the patch of dirt next to the demon and he recognized the deep claw marks. _Fuck!_

Cas cautiously reached inside the stroller and tried to sooth the crying baby by rubbing his tummy and not lose sight of any of their opponents at the same time. He hadn’t noticed Dean’s reaction to the presence of the hellhound yet but his experience on the battlefield told him enough to know that the tension in the air was a clear sign for the imminent attack.

_Balthazar, Anna… anyone? If you’re not too busy we could really use some help right now._ Cas prayed desperately, just as the leader of the demons nodded his head in their direction and his followers closed in with terrifying speed.

Dean lashed out, shooting bullet after bullet in quick succession into thin air, trying and sadly failing to follow the paw marks of the invisible hellhound.

Cas did the same but it was difficult to shoot, wield his knife and look after Sam at the same time. He had already sustained various small cuts when time seemed to freeze for a second when several things happened simultaneously. Dean cried out in pain when deep gashes appeared out of nowhere on his right calf and the blood quickly coloured the whole pant leg.

But more damage was prevented when Crowley appeared next to Dean and with the snap of his fingers a dying yowl emanated and at the place the hellhound apparently had stood black smoke dispersed into nothingness.

But that wasn’t all when an almost deafening silence followed the yowling and the demons stopped in their tracks as four angels appeared in a close protective circle around Cas and the stroller.

Michael, Lucifer, Balthazar and Anna had all come in answer to Cas silent prayer. The first three with drawn angel blades while Anna vanished as quickly as she had appeared, taking the stroller with her to safety.

With the appearance of Crowley the demon leader had already tried to flee and leave his entourage behind but the king of hell had prevented that, effectively pinning the demon in his place with the flick of his wrist, generously giving Dean the honour to take care of him even if the Winchester was barely able to stand.

Not until he had send the demon to his flickering demise, Dean allowed himself to turn around and check on Cas and his baby brother, expecting the worst but definitely not what was presenting itself to him.

With Sam in a safe place the three remaining angels and Cas had made quick work with the demons and they just killed the last of them in an almost choreographed looking movement. Michael and Lucifer back to back, same as Balthazar and Cas, when Dean crumbled to the ground in pain at the sight of the angels –not even Crowley able to keep him upright. Shock, adrenaline and relief flooded Dean’s mind when he saw Cas safe, quickly replaced by irrational agony.

“Sam! No…” he called out desperation evident in the tone of his voice. That caught the attention of the others and with a couple of quick strides Cas was by Dean’s side, eyes widened in horror once more as his gaze found the dripping gashes.

“Dean… Dean, calm down.” The former angel gently caught Dean’s head between his hands, forcing the whimpering man to look him in the eyes.

“Sam is safe, Anna brought him back to the house and out of harms way. He is fine, Dean, he is fine. It’s alright!”

Restlessly Dean’s eyes flicked back and forth between Cas’ to make sure there was only truth in them and Sam was indeed safe.

When the Winchester seemingly found what he was looking for he slumped forward slinging his arms around Cas’ slim waist.

“Thank god…”

“Not exactly, actually… but I won’t say anything because you’re experiencing a considerable blood loss at the moment…” Lucifer drawled and Balthazar chuckled next to him while Michael huffed an impatient breath and rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics.

Dean’s shoulders tensed again and his eyes focused on the ice blue ones of Lucifer who was stepping closer slowly.

“Oh please, don’t look at me like that, I’m one of the good guys now, I’m going to help you.” The blond angel said, dropping to his knees next to Dean. Under the watchful and surprised eyes of everyone present Lucifer slowly smoothed his hand down Dean’s leg, a warm glow of grace spreading from it and healing the wounds.

“Thank you Lucifer.” Cas said when the wounds had closed but the angel’s hand lingered for a moment longer, sending a bit more healing energy through Dean and putting a bit more colour in his cheeks again.

“You’re welcome, little brother.” Lucifer grinned and it still sent chills down Dean’s spine but he also nodded in thanks.

“Crowley!” Michael’s deep commanding voice caught the attention of everyone not only the demon it was directed at. The king of hell had kept in the background with a save distance to the angels.

“Yes?” the demon asked in a bored voice but it was evident that he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the attention of the angel. But Michael surprised all of them.

“I believe we owe you thanks as well for looking out for Castiel and the Winchesters and putting them under your protection. Due to your help and warning a more serious outcome has been prevented.”

Crowley blinked in surprise but huffed then.

“Yeah well, just paying my dues. I may be soulless but I’m not completely heartless, these three experienced a lot of shit in the past, it’s time to cut them some slack.” He made a dismissive wave with his hand.

“Couldn’t have put it better myself…” Balthazar mumbled but got silenced by an annoyed look of his superior.

“Thanks anyway. We do agree to that but that doesn’t mean that heaven won’t keep a close eye on _your_ doings.”

“Yeah well… nothing’s changed then, I can handle that. Now that this particular problem is taken care of… don’t you two have a baby moose to look after?” the demon looked at Dean and Cas who nodded.

Without the opportunity to say good-bye if he had so wanted to, Dean got angel expressed by Lucifer to their house. Closely followed by Balthazar with Cas and Michael.

Anna looked up with a relieved expression. She was sitting on the back porch of the house with Sam cradled in her arms. The baby was looking up at an assortment of coloured balls which were circling around each other in fascination but with watery eyes.

“Thank goodness you’re back I was beginning to wonder if something happened.” She sighed.

“Aw sister dear, please. A couple of demons are no match for us and you seemed successful enough at keeping the little one occupied. Seriously Anna a miniature solar system?” Lucifer grinned stepping slowly closer.

Dean took a deep breath but kept his mouth shut when the angel reached out a hand and gently tickled Sam’s stomach which made the baby shriek in glee.

“What’s wrong with the solar system, it’s pretty. And he liked it that was the more important thing here, it wasn’t exactly easy to calm him down.” Anna pouted what made the others laugh.

“I sincerely thank you for taking care of Sam, Anna.” Cas said, taking a step next to Lucifer, looking down on the baby whose eyes honed in on his immediately, squealing again, lifting his little arms eagerly for Cas to pick him up with another constant stream of dadas.

Dean all but toppled over laughing at that, the crimson flush on Cas’ face and the collective stunned expressions on the angels’ faces.

“That’s no laughing matter, Dean!” Cas grumbled, picking up the infant and holding him close to his chest but high enough for the baby to look over his shoulder and see that there are more people around. Sam scrunched his tiny nose up, looking from one to the next before turning his head away and locking gazes with Lucifer who promptly proceeded to make silly faces to make the baby laugh.

“Oh but it is Cas, the way your whole family looks as if something exploded and you getting all shy… I think it’s funny.” Dean responded, still grinning but closely watching the interaction between his baby brother and Lucifer.

“Well brother dearest, I guess congratulations. I believe you are the first of our family to earn this title without committing a high-profile sin.” Balthazar said and patted Cas’ shoulder softly watching the baby as well.

The other angels nodded in agreement.

“Father will be ecstatic.” Lucifer snorted. Dean was about to say something when Michael beat him to it, an uncharacteristic smirk on his lips.

“Now, now Luke, stop mocking our little brother…” he said softly, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“Heaven is calling for us, we should be going.”

The other three angels straightened and bid their goodbyes before they vanished with a distinct flutter of feathers.

The two men stayed silent for a moment longer before they looked at each other again.

“That was one walk that ended definitely not like I planned it.” Dean sighed then his eyes widened comically. “Wait… does that mean god is my father-in-law to be? And Sammy’s grandfather? Holy crap!”

Cas started laughing at that. “I believe it does.”

~~**~~

Later that night the couple was lying on the sofa in the living room, Dean leaning against the armrest with Cas comfortably sprawled over his chest, one hand entwined with Cas’ the other idly playing with the silky black strands, fire crackling and flickering in the background.

“That was a weird day. I would never have thought that it could be possible that your brothers, we and Crowley fight together for the same side…” Dean murmured softly.

“It’s called the _Winchester_ _charm_ I believe. You and your brother have this ability to get people on your side it builds bridges where otherwise destruction would reign.” Cas murmured right back, lips pulling up in a smile that Dean could feel through the fabric of his shirt.

“Okay… now that we re-established that we have a thing for weird working relationships can we continue this talk about you getting a job? I mean where did that come from?” the Winchester looked down and regarded the crown of Cas’ head curiously while the former angel took a deep breath.

“I told you Dean, working for a living is part of a normal life and that’s what I want with you –with the occasional supernatural confrontation it seems- but nonetheless. I want to be able to provide for myself and those I love. And now that I do have the academic credentials thanks to Charlie I thought I could use my knowledge for something other than solving cases for a change.” The dark haired man explained, lifting his head slightly and searching eye contact with Dean, conveying everything he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words for over it.

The curiosity in Dean’s eyes softened and made way to pure unadulterated love for the former angel and instead of answering immediately he leant forward and pressed a soft kiss to Cas’ lips. The angle was weird and not exactly comfortable for either of them but it made the point of gratitude clear.

“So what were you thinking of? Teaching or something?” he asked then with a smile.

Cas answering beam was close to blinding.

“Maybe or working at the library or something? I was going to talk to Charlie about that, maybe she has an idea.”

“You do that, I’m sure she has a whole bunch of ideas for you in the span of 30 minutes…” Dean regarded Cas quietly for another moment.

“You certainly are the best thing that could happen to me… and if you ever tell a soul that I just made the most chick-flicky comment in existence, I’m afraid I’ll have to kick your ass. But it is true anyway.”

Cas didn’t say anything to that he just placed his head back on Dean’s chest and smiled contentedly.  


	7. Chapter 06

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas plans ahead for Dean's future while someone else helps to remember Sam's childhood.

 

~*~ _Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children._ ~*~

The weeks following the demon attack went by quietly and without big crisis. Not without tears though because the whole ordeal of Sam getting his first tooth was hard on all three members of the family.

Sam was practically inconsolable for over a week, which led to Dean and Cas’ sleep deprivation. It had also led to almost daily visits of the angels. Mostly Anna or Balthazar or both of them but occasionally Michael and Lucifer made an appearance as well.

Dean had finally agreed to changing the permanent warding of the living room and library to a movable one then so that their visitors had a chance to enter the building and help them better. But there was only so much they could do for the baby boy to sooth his discomfort.

But by the time the first edge of one of the front bottom teeth was peeking through it got easier and Sam calmed down again although Dean realized that they had developed another problem. Sam got fussy a lot easier now as soon as he and Cas leave the room.

It was alright as long as at least one of them was in sight but if not he would start crying again. Cas had consulted their guidance books again and Dean had called Jody and their doctor about it just to be sure how to handle that problem. Separation anxiety had been the unanimous diagnosis.

It was a normal problem with children that age but it broke Dean’s heart anyway. All their life was dominated by people leaving them, now he had the chance to make it right for Sam but he also didn’t want to spoil him. It was a difficult and fine line between the two.

The situation put Cas’ efforts at looking for a job on hold also. He had talked to Charlie about it and she was looking into it but he refused to put the burden of caring for Sam during this more difficult time on Dean alone to go to work just yet.

But the time wasn’t only spent with Sam of course. Charlie and Kevin had both been introduced to the angels and baby sitting duties when they had the time. The two men had stayed until Sam fell asleep and had left the house then for Dean to teach Cas how to drive like he had promised the former angel.

That had proven to be a lot easier than Dean had expected. He had gone over what he needed Cas to know, explained to him what to do and Cas had done it. Dean was so proud of his angel and every time Cas had successfully finished whatever task Dean had set him on, he had gotten a kiss in reward. It was a well functioning system and it granted them a bit of alone time which they had enjoyed a lot.

Cas was a careful driver but Dean trusted him that he was capable. When they stopped with the driving lessons after Dean was satisfied, they had made quick work of the Impala. Cas’ ideas of how to hide their weapons more efficiently in the front doors and emptying the trunk for the stroller at the same time had formed into more detailed plans in Dean’s head and it didn’t take them long to make the changes as well. The elder Winchester also used the time to teach Cas about cars.

That had gotten the former angel thinking but he had kept his ideas to himself until he had the opportunity to run them by Charlie before he got Dean’s hopes up.

~~**~~

The time came a couple of days later. Dean was out driving by various car dealers to check out possible cars for Cas while the former angel stayed home and looked after Sam and got some translating done for the _Men of Letters_ library.

As soon as Dean had left the house and Sam was happily playing with the stacking blocks and his dog at Cas’ feet, the former angel dialled Charlie’s number.

It took the red head only two rings to answer.

“Cas… what a pleasant surprise, what can I do for you? Is Sam alright? Have you decided on a job yet?” the bright smile was audible in her voice.

“Good morning to you too, Charlie. Sam is quite fine, I’d say, he’s happily playing at the moment at any rate. And no I haven’t decided yet, it’s not an easy decision but it is a job I am calling you about.” Cas grinned when Sam looked up curiously at the sound of his own name, flashing him a one tooth smile before he continued smashing two blocks together, relishing in the noise it created.

The girl on the other end of the line sighed. “He did something adorable again, didn’t he? I can hear you grinning over here. So if you haven’t decided on a job yet, what is this about then, did you have another idea you want me to look into? I’m always happy to oblige, you know that.”

“I know that’s why you are my first and only choice right now. And yes I had an idea but not for me this time. You remember when Dean and I worked on the Impala?”

Charlie made a silent snorting sound. Of course she remembered, she had been baby sitting the last two times and every time the two of them came in they had broad grins on their faces and Cas’ hair had been an even bigger mess then usual.

“Right, so Dean had explained a lot of the technicalities of the car and I’ve been thinking. He spent a lot of time working on this car, rebuilt it twice from scratch. He can do that with other old cars as well, I’m pretty sure and I’m convinced that he would want to work as well if I finally decide on something, that’s just the way Dean is. So I was wondering if it would be possible to open a shop next to the house? I mean he wants to build a garage for the Impala and whatever other car he decides on for me, why not build another or two where he can work on other cars for money? The space is there, that wouldn’t be a problem. The question is if there would be legal problems?”

Charlie hummed thoughtfully and Cas could hear keys tapping from her side of the line.

“Give me a minute but I don’t think so. We probably should add some mechanic certificate or something to his papers just in case but other than that, I think all he needs is some money to start the thing off and thanks to Bobby’s funds that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Awesome…thank you Charlie, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” Cas smiled.

The red head chuckled on the other end of the line. “Dean’s vocabulary is rubbing off on you, Cas, you might want to keep an eye on that.” She laughed. “But you are welcome. If that’s all you needed, let me know if I have to hire a bunch of workers again.”

She couldn’t see it but the former angel flushed a bit at that but a happy flutter was spreading in his stomach anyway.

“I will, thank you again. Now only Dean has to agree to it. Talk to you soon, Charlie.”

He ended the call and watched Sam with a happy little smile.

“What do you think, Sammy, should we build your brother his own auto shop to work in? Would that make him happy?”

The baby squealed enthusiastically, threw the block down with as much power as he could manage and then lifted his hands up to Cas, demanding to be picked up again with a string of dadas and other unintelligible sounds.

Cas obliged and settled the boy on his lap.

“Yes I agree, I think he’ll love the idea as well. Like this he can do what he loves but also be close to you, little man and that’s the most important thing for him.” The former angel smiled at the baby and gently nudged the tip of his nose with his finger.

“Not the sole most important thing, brother dear.” An amused voice sounded from behind Cas, startling the former angel and sent Sam into another squealing fit. He had been so focused on the baby that Cas had neither sensed the shift in the air nor had he heard the soft flutter of feathers.

“Lucifer, you caught me off guard.” Cas grumbled, turning around to look at his brother. “What are you doing here? What do you mean?”

“Apologies, but you were the one who hasn’t put the wards back into place yet. I’ve been merely pointing out that Sam isn’t the only important thing in Dean Winchester’s life and if you seriously need _me_ to tell you that than I probably should have a big brother talk with Dean. As to why I’m here, well I wanted to check in with the little one. I’m off duty at the moment.” The blond archangel sauntered closer and knelt on the floor next to Castiel to be on the same level as the baby. “Heya Sammy, how’s your tooth coming along?”

The child turned more in Lucifer’s direction with Cas’ help and regarded the blond angel with the light blue eyes with the same shy curiosity he bestows on everybody who isn’t Dean or Cas although he definitely warmed up to Charlie by now as well. Lucifer waited patiently, smiled at the baby boy.

Whatever thought process -or what you could call it at that age- Sam went through, in the end he seemed to decide that he liked the person in front of him and flashed him a wide smile, presenting the sole tooth –or what was visible of it already- with glee.

At the sight Lucifer broke out in a matching smile and after a quick look up at Cas who nodded, he picked the baby up and send him flying in the air before catching him safely again. Sam screeched in happiness. 

“Look at you soon you’ll be a big boy!” Lucifer murmured into Sam’s soft hair.

“I fear that’ll take a while yet but he’s on the best way.” Cas interjected, watching his brother and the baby carefully and with fascination. Lucifer hadn’t visited often so far and most of the time either Balthazar or Anna had been with him but he had proven to be really good with Sam. The little boy liked the archangel a lot for some reason none of them could fathom. Maybe there was a remnant of their previous bond still there.

Dean was still apprehensive to Lucifer’s presence but his interaction with the baby slowly melted that away. After all every person, angel or demon who looked out for his baby brother –even if they used to be their fiercest enemies- was on Dean’s good side. It just took a bit of time.

“He sure is we all know that. Right? You’ll grow up to be a towering moose of a man all over again, won’t you pumpkin?” Lucifer looked at the child and sent him flying once again.

\---

A little while later the archangel and the baby were sitting in Cas’ wing chair while Cas sat at the table roughly sketching his idea for Dean’s auto shop outside.

“Are you keeping track of his measurements?” Lucifer asked while he marvelled at the small and soft baby hands of the man he once used as a meatsuit. He remembered how big Sam’s hands and feet had been in comparison to now. It was fascinating, once upon a time he had despised human kind but now he saw right in front of his eyes what his father had wanted him to see millennia ago.

“His doctor measured him when we took him to the check up if that’s what you meant.” Cas looked up and smiled at the rapt attention on both his brother and the baby’s faces.

“That’s good I guess but wouldn’t it be nice for Sam to see how small he had once been?” he paused and looked at the baby thoughtfully.

“Do you have child friendly paint, Cassie?”

“Yeah, that’s why Dean and I started to take pictures at every occasion…” he trailed off pulling his eyebrows close together in confusion. “Child friendly paint? Err… I don’t know, I think we do have a small bucket of the blue paint they did the script and warding above Sam’s bed in the back room. That’s as child friendly and harmless as it can be, I suppose. Why do you ask?”

A wide smile played over Lucifer’s lips before he explained what he had thought of. Cas had laughed whole heartedly but had agreed to it even if it was bound to become a mess and went to get the paint.

The archangel stepped closer to the table and took one of the clean sheets of paper Cas had been using and a black marker pen and wrote in beautiful cursive letters _Sam Winchester_ and under that _~ 7 months_.

By the time he had finished that, Castiel had returned with the paint, a brush, a couple of towels and a bowl with warm water just in case. Sam hadn’t fussed for one second while Cas had been away, too content in Lucifer’s arms and distracted by the writing.

“Now Sammy…” Cas leaned close to the baby and looked intently at the light green eyes. “… listen carefully, this paint is not meant for eating, understood?” Sam blinked at the former angel without any interest in what he had just been told. Cas grinned and ruffled the short light brown hair. “Yeah, I didn’t think so…”

~~**~~

When Dean returned home, he had been quite happy. He had found a handful of cars he deemed okay for Cas if he so wanted. Sure all of them would need a bit of work but that’s what he was for after all. They were no classics like his baby but they were good cars.

So he had been happy when he came home but he was also looking forward to seeing Cas and Sam again. It was rare for him to be on his own now after all. But nothing in his many years of hunting and the few months of parenthood could have prepared him for what awaited him there.

He entered the house and made his way to the kitchen first to put away the few things he had picked up on the way before he made his way to the living room.

“Cas? Sammy? I’m back ho… what the actual fuck?” he interrupted himself mid-sentence, stopped instantly and blinked.

“I mean really? What the fuck?”

The scene unfolding in front of him was as follows. On the floor in the middle of the room sat Cas with Sam on his lap while Lucifer –of all the angels- sat in front of them with a brush in his hand painting Sam’s foot blue. But that wasn’t all of it, no. Sam’s hands were also blue already as were several patches of Cas’ clothes and arms. Lucifer didn’t fare a lot better, he had blue patches all over his shirt and a bright blue small handprint on his cheek. Sam was giggling and squirming on Cas’ lap while the two grown men were chuckling along.

All around them were papers with various handprints and also foot prints.

At his exclamation Cas turned his face to Dean, revealing a patch of blue paint on his face as well.

“Dean! You’re home!” he smiled at the confused looking Winchester, gently tightening his grip on Sam a bit to keep the baby from sliding off his lap.

“It looks like it, could you please explain to me what you are _doing_? Hey Lucifer.” He added as an afterthought his eyes fixed on his baby brother who was pretty much covered in blue paint.

“We are documenting Sam’s growth by making prints!” the archangel explained patiently and reached out to take Sam over again and carefully pressed the freshly painted foot on a paper in front of him and then on another.

Dean still looked a little sceptical as Cas took Sam in his arms again and wiped off the worst of the paint again. “Okay?”

He took a few steps into the room but careful not to get too close to the paint.

“Here, Dean, look at that.” Helpfully Lucifer held up the paper he had labelled so artfully earlier.

With a small frown Dean looked at the archangel then at the paper as he took it and then a smile broke out on his face. Under the inscription were two sets of tiny hands and feet and finally Dean understood.

“Ah okay, that’s a nice idea… but Cas you’re on bath time duty today, there is no way I’m cleaning up that mess!” he chuckled laying the picture on the table to dry.

“Oh that’s quite alright, Dean, I’ll take care of it, no worries. It was my idea after all, it’s only right for me to clean up afterwards. Come here pumpkin, let’s get you all cleaned up.” Lucifer took the baby over from Cas again, cradling the infant against his chest since Sam had started to yawn a while ago and was looking up at him all sleepy eyed.

Gently he took first one hand, then the other and pressed a soft kiss to them before he repeated the action on the feet as well and with a warm breath of grace the paint stains vanished from the baby’s hands and feet, as well as his clothes.

With ease he got up from the floor and took Sam over to his big brother.

“See, all done! But maybe it would be wise to feed the little man before he falls asleep now.” Lucifer said as he gently let Sam sink into Dean’s arms again.

“Err… right, yes. Thanks Luke.” Dean mumbled absentmindedly, still a little confused by everything that he didn’t even realize that he had called Lucifer by a nickname of his own.

The blond archangel raised his eyebrows in surprise but didn’t comment on it. He said his good-bye and wished them a good evening and vanished from the room again.

~~**~~

Some time later after they had fed Sam and put him down for his afternoon nap, the two men stood in the kitchen enjoying a nice cup of coffee while Dean told Cas about the cars he had looked at.

The former angel was interested but in the end he trusted Dean to decide on the best one. They agreed to make a trip out of it to look at the cars again together.

“Cas?” Dean called out from the living room shortly after. Cas had stayed in the kitchen to quickly clean up their cups. The Winchester had started to neatly stack the papers, carefully putting away the print of Sammy to fully dry and had found Cas’ sketch. With a curious expression he took the paper back to the kitchen where Cas was just drying his hands. “What’s this all about?”

The former angel looked up at his friend and then down at the paper, instantly a faint blush crept up his neck and firmly settled into his cheeks.

“That… eh…” he cleared his throat nervously. “That was just an idea I had… I hadn’t planned for you to find out like this…” Cas mumbled.

Dean smiled, stepped closer and leaned next to Cas on the counter.

“So what, now I found it. Tell me about your idea I can’t really make a lot of sense from this alone.” He softly rustled the paper for emphasis.

“That’s because Lucifer distracted me before I came around to label everything, give it to me and then you’ll probably understand better.” The dark haired man grabbed the paper and vanished into the living room again.

Dean gave him a moment before he followed him, gently embracing him from behind and leaning his chin on Cas’s shoulder to look at the paper again. When he read the words, his eyes grew wide and he unconsciously tightened his grip around Cas’ waist.

It was a rough sketch but it was obviously of their house with two garages next to it. Cas had even drawn in the outline of his baby in the first one. And next to that was another building a little bigger than the garages with a sign at the top. _Winchester’s Restorations and Repairs_.

“That… what… Cas? What is this?” Dean stuttered dumb-struck, marvelling on the sign.

“This was my idea…” Cas started to explain and told Dean about how he had been thinking about this because he just knew that Dean would want to work as well but probably wouldn’t because he didn’t want to leave Sam and so on. He also told him how he had talked to Charlie about it and that everything should be possible if he wanted to. When he finished he turned in Dean’s arms and looked at him expectantly and nervously to equal parts.

“Woah Cas, that’s amazing! This idea is brilliant! I mean I have to think about it but… man you seriously are the best thing that could have ever happened to me!” Dean responded enthusiastically, pulling Cas closer to kiss him deeply and lovingly. The intimate moments alone were rare but they both cherished them.

Sam meanwhile didn’t like them so much as it seemed since he had a habit to disrupt these moments on a regular basis. Dean had known it all his life that Sam was born to be a cockblocker.

It didn’t even surprise them anymore that only moments into the kiss the grumpy wail of the baby was heard over the baby monitor.

Cas chuckled. “You probably should look after him, he was happy enough all day with Lucifer and me but I’m pretty sure he missed you and needs some quality time with his big brother.”

The elder Winchester nodded. It wasn’t that he liked letting go of Cas already again but spending time with Sam, now that’s something you didn’t need to ask him to twice.

The baby was crying at full volume by the time Dean entered the nursery and gently lifted him from his blankets. It took a bit for Sam to calm down again, his little hands fisted in Dean’s shirt, sniffing only silently.

“Hey there baby bug, what’s the matter with you now, hm? Grumpy and clingy, that’s certainly new…” the blond man whispered, rocking the baby a bit.

Since Sam had started his nap not even half an hour before, Dean figured that his baby brother would go back to sleep soon enough and stayed in the nursery for the time being. The both of them settled in the rocking chair where Dean grabbed the first book he found and started reading to Sam.

When Dean reached the end of the book and Sam was still wide awake, eyes fixed on his big brother’s face and hands still tightly fisted into the soft fabric of the shirt, they got up again and returned downstairs to the living area.

He had planned on making some chamomile tea for Sam because Dean had the feeling whatever was going on inside Sam’s head, it agitated him enough to keep him from sleeping. He managed to start the water without changing Sam’s position in his arm but then he gently tried to reposition him to have a bit more freedom to handle the bottle and everything else.

The mere suggestion of movement however, triggered an ear splitting cry from the baby. Sam didn’t understand that Dean hadn’t planned on putting him down, the grip impossibly tightened even more and the upset baby made very clear what he was thinking of the mere idea.

“Shh… shhh baby bug, it’s alright. I won’t let go, you are stuck with me, it’s alright.”

Drawn by the cries Cas entered the kitchen worriedly.

“Everything alright?” he asked with concern in his voice at the sight the two Winchesters made.

“I have honestly no idea, he’s exceptionally clingy. All I wanted was to move him a little. Could you make him some tea, please?” Dean pleaded but only looking at Cas for the fraction of a second before he focused on his brother again.

“Of course.” With sure and practiced movements Cas prepared the bottle, checked the temperature and gave it to Dean. “That’s odd indeed. He was fine this afternoon he didn’t even fuss when I left the room as long as he was occupied with Lucifer.”

Gently Dean prodded the nipple against Sam’s lips, smiling when the crying stopped and his baby brother started to drink.

“Ah he probably is just cranky with me for leaving him alone combined with not enough sleep. Give it a bit of time and he’ll be fine.”

\---

But it wasn’t fine for the rest of the evening. Sam was grumpy and upset and even the slightest hint that Dean wanted to lay him on his blanket or even into Cas’ arms started the crying all over again.

The former angel observed the whole thing worriedly. He had no idea why Sam reacted the way he did after being a perfect little angel all afternoon. In the end he prepared some dinner under the watchful eyes of Dean. Cooking was one of the few things Cas hadn’t really mastered yet and with Dean Winchester in the house it certainly wasn’t a first necessity to learn.

But even after dinner and another half bottle of tea Sam was still refusing to let go of Dean. The baby boy was tired it was obvious but for some irrational reason –or at least irrational to the adults- he fought with all his might against sleep.

They were sitting on the sofa and Dean rubbed gentle circles on Sam’s stomach when the elder Winchester finally broke.

“What’s the matter with you baby bug… you need to sleep…” he murmured softly. “I won’t leave you alone… it’s okay…”

“Maybe you should take him upstairs and to bed with you for once. Whatever it is that’s bothering him he knows by now that if he falls asleep he’ll end up in his bed without you. Maybe he’ll calm down and go to sleep in your bed?” the former angel suggested thoughtfully, looking at the little child. “Or we call one of my siblings to check what’s the matter with him.”

Dean’s gaze turned to Cas with a frown at first but then he sighed.

“No, I’m sure that’s something every parent has to deal with and they have no angel squad to help them. We’ll deal with this on our own but… I think I’ll try your first suggestion. Nothing worse can happen than him still not going to sleep. Would… you like to join us?” he asked softly and he would deny to his dying day that a faint blush adorned his face when he asked that question.

Cas regarded the two Winchesters for a moment before he smiled lovingly at Dean.

“I would like that a lot!”

Quickly the lights were off and Dean, one arm securely around Sam, led Cas with the other hand into his bedroom.

~~**~~

As it turned out the trick worked, the two men laid on their sides facing each other with Sam between them. At first he had cried a bit again and had stayed close to Dean but after some time he calmed again, succumbed finally to sleep and in the process rolled on his back one hand still tight in Dean’s shirt, the other unconsciously grabbing for Cas’.

The two men watched the baby for a while silently before they started to talk for a while until they both fell asleep as well, hands clasped together in the space between their heads.

\---

Dean had no idea how long they had been sleeping, it was pitch dark outside at any rate, when he was jolted awake by the squirming and whimpering baby next to him.

“Hey baby bug… awake again? What is it, had a bad dream?” he murmured softly as to not wake up Cas who seemed to be still sleeping peacefully.

Gently the blond man stroked the short light brown hair and froze. Carefully he placed his hand on Sam’s forehead, his eyes widened in shock and fear. Quickly he cradled the baby in his arms again.

“Shh… it’s alright, baby bug, I’m here, it’s gonna be alright.”

Not as softly as he would have under any other circumstance, Dean shook Cas awake.

“Cas! Cas wake up! Sammy’s burning up!” he said urgently, waking up the former angel instantly.


	8. Chapter 07

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot of first come with being a baby... some are less enjoyable, good thing Sam has a loving family!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter since rl and other stuff got a little in the way of writing. It's also more or less an extension of the last chapter which ended with a bit of a cliffhanger... sorry!

 

~*~ _Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale_ ~*~

Castiel had been sleeping peacefully. In fact he had been having one of the most beautiful dreams in a long time. It was about their future. Sam had been probably around 3 years old running around a playground like a little whirlwind. Dean and he had been standing a little ways away and just when he had  turned away to look at something in the opposite direction the frantic voice of Dean and a hard shake ripped this dream world apart.

Blearily he blinked his eyes open, not understanding what Dean was saying at first. It took him a full thirty seconds to gather his wits until the message hit him like a sledgehammer.

Instantly he was wide awake and sitting up, looking at Dean who had cradled his whimpering and flushed little brother in his arms, worry edged in the fine lines around his eyes, gently stroking over the soft baby hair.

Carefully the angel slid closer to have a better look at the baby, gently feeling his forehead as well. Dean was right Sam really was burning up.

“I’ll go and get the thermometer then we can decide what to do. I’m sure it’s not so bad…” he murmured to his lover who wouldn’t take his eyes off of his little brother. He sounded a lot more convincing than he felt himself. Truth was he was pretty concered by the flushed hot skin of the little one.

It didn’t take him long to get the thermometer from the bathroom and check Sam’s temperature. Good thing they had decided to invest in an ear thermometer and had Jody show them how to use it correctly otherwise that whole ordeal would have been a lot more difficult Cas thought.

The display showed them a temperature of 39°C and Dean caught Cas’ gaze worriedly.

“Should we call a doctor?”

After a quick look at the clock, Cas shook his head. It was the middle of the night after all and the doctor probably wouldn’t know anything else to do but try and get the fever down anyway.

“No if I recall the information from the books correctly, the fever isn’t worryingly high at Sam’s age. We need to get some fluid in him and then we should give him a bath to get the fever down. If it’s still that high or even higher in the morning we call the doctor.”

Dean looked gratefully up at the former angel who had gotten to his feet to go and get a bottle with tea for Sam. Now that Cas had laid out their plan he recalled the books as well but when he had woken up to Sam whimpering and feverish he had kind of blanked. It wasn’t a sensation Dean was used to, he always knew what to do but with Sam being a baby again he was a little out of his depth. Good thing that he had Cas to keep his cool and think rationally.

When Cas returned with the tea and two fresh cups of coffee on a tray because there was no way they would go back to sleep now, they were faced with another problem. Dean repositioned the unhappy baby in his arms and gently tried to coax Sam to start drinking but the little one refused the bottle turning his head away every time Dean had come near with the nipple and starting to cry by the third time he tried.

The elder Winchester put the bottle down and gently rocked the baby to sooth him.

“Shh, baby bug… I know you don’t feel well… it’s okay but you need to drink…” he murmured softly under the watchful eyes of the former angel.

Cas had finished his coffee in the meantime and had started to think of a way to make the baby boy drink when it became apparent that he wasn’t willingly going to.

“May I give it a try?” he asked when Sam finally had calmed down from crying to whimpering again.

Dean looked up at the careful tone of the former angel.

“Sure…” was all he said accompanied by a tired smile as he gently let Sam sink in Cas’ waiting arms.

The baby didn’t like that as well and started the crying all over again until Cas had started talking soft nonsense to him and the child realized who was holding him. Satisfied that it was someone he knew the crying ceased again.

“At least now we know why he was so clingy last night, he must have felt unwell already.” Cas stated silently as he took the bottle again, carefully dripping some of the tea on his pinky finger which he nudged gently against Sam’s lips.

At first the baby refused that also but after some time he caught Cas hand and started sucking softly on the wet tip of his finger. The dark haired man left Sam to it for some time before he took the bottle up again and gently exchanged it with his finger. It was no easy feat with the baby in his arms and Sam was a little startled by the exchanged, startled enough that he started drinking without complaint for a while.

Cas beamed at Dean who was looking at him with awe. Carefully placing his cup on the bedside table, the elder Winchester leant in a bit and pressed a soft kiss to Cas’ lips.

“You are a genius!” he smiled, getting up then to go and fill Sam’s baby tub with lukewarm water for the bath.

~~**~~

Dean had made sure that their bathroom was warm enough when Cas brought his little brother in for the bath a couple of minutes later.

Quickly they took his clothes off and that’s when Dean realized once more that Sam wasn’t himself at the moment. Over the last couple of months they had kept a routine for Sam’s baths. In the beginning the baby boy had been wary of the water but after some time Sam had started to love it and evening after evening it was difficult to get him out of his clothes because of the excited flailing and screeching the baby had done.

That night however Sam was way too calm about the whole ordeal, lying more or less still just looking up at Dean with big and glassy eyes.

“Come on, baby bug, smile for your big brother. You know you love bathing and it’s going to make you feel a lot better. Trust me Sammy.” Dean said, softly massaging the tiny baby feet before he took him over to the tub.

Cas had waited, leaning against the sink, watching the interaction between his two Winchesters. He could sense Dean’s distress at his baby brother’s illness which wasn’t exactly good because if you could sense it, Sam could as well and that never made a good combination.

To both adults’ relief however, when Sam was seated into the water by Dean, a gleeful expression crossed the baby’s face. It was a far cry of Sam’s usual reaction to bathing but it was a reaction and a positive one at that.

Gently the two of them started to wash the little one, taking turns with soaking the sponge and dripping it on Sam and making sure that he remained seated upright. It wasn’t normally a problem Sam was by now a pro at sitting on his own but at this moment the baby looked so exhausted and tired that they were better safe than sorry.

After a while Cas took out the softest baby towel they had for Sam, gently slinging it around him when Dean lifted him from the tub. It always made Cas smile to see Sam in that particular towel since it was green and had a small cap sewed to one corner with a stitched on face that made Sam look like a tiny frog.

Cas grinned at the baby this time as well and to his surprise and happiness Sam returned it, albeit weakly, but he smiled. Dean who had his back to Cas and hadn’t seen his grin at first, quickly turned around when he noticed Sam’s reaction.

“You made him smile…” he breathed softly.  “He sure loves his daddy.” Dean added with a grin of his own while he carefully dried off his baby brother and put fresh warm clothes on him.

“Are you being jealous, Mr Winchester?” Cas teased, feeling kind of freed from his concern by Sam’s smile, convinced that it was indeed nothing bad.

“Not at all, Mr Novak.” Dean chuckled. “As I said before to Sam, I couldn’t have chosen a better dad for him. I’m perfectly fine with being a big brother.” He pressed a soft kiss to Sam’s forehead –noting that he seemed not as hot anymore but they would have to wait a bit until they could take his temperature again to be sure- before he looked up and grinned at Cas again. “And at this point I would be perfectly happy if it was Crowley who made him smile, the main thing is that he smiled again.”

The former angel laughed silently because despite his words he knew that Dean meant that only partially. They had a truce with Crowley but Dean still was far from trusting the demon. He didn’t really trust him either but he also saw that for some reason Crowley honestly cared for Sam and that was good enough for now. Personally he still was a little floored by the fact that Dean had accepted Lucifer as fast as he did. So Crowley had still a chance to become a part of this –admittedly crazy- family.

“Now baby bug, how about dada Cas goes and gets a book from your room and reads us both a story, mh?” Dean said softly while taking Sam up in his arms again and starting his way back to his own room.

The baby didn’t give much of a reply but the former angel got the message and detoured to Sam’s nursery to get the fairytale book for now.

When all three of them were comfortable, Dean gently took Sam’s temperature again, smiling in relief when the digital display read only 37.9°C before Cas started reading.

The elder Winchester loved listening to Cas’ reading as much as Sam obviously did and now that his temperature wasn’t as high anymore it seemed like Sam’s exhaustion quickly caught up with him. Cas hadn’t made it even past the first quarter of _Cinderella_ when the baby fell asleep again.

The former angel didn’t stop however, but kept reading with a soft smile when he noticed that Dean slowly leaned closer and closer until his head settled on Cas shoulder, Sam securely in his arms, peacefully asleep as well. Just then, when he was sure that Dean had fallen asleep too, Cas stopped and made himself comfortable, quickly drifting off himself.

~~**~~

When Dean woke up only few hours later he was surprised. Despite being awake a good portion of the night he felt refreshed, he felt warm and happy, leaning on Cas’ shoulder.

The former angel was still in deep sleep and judging by the rapid movement under his eyelids obviously dreaming. The next thing that surprised Dean was a look down in his arms where Sam still rested safely. His baby brother was awake, observing him with wide, clear eyes but making no sound. He smiled and carefully extracted himself from his angel, gently pulling his covers over him to let him sleep a little longer.

The two Winchesters left the room and went downstairs where Dean checked Sam’s temperature again. It was still a little higher than normal but far from the worrying numbers of the night before. Now that he could look at Sam more closely, Dean also noticed the slightly runny nose and a soft but distinct rattling sound with his breathing. The fever that night had been the first sign of Sam’s impending first cold it seemed. Dean smiled, he should have known.

“Soon you’ll be a big strong boy…” he whispered against the baby’s head, gently cleaning up his nose then.

He made his way to the kitchen to prepare Sam’s breakfast when a voice from the opposite doorway startled him.

“What’s up with the little one?” Balthazar asked with a raised eyebrow. He couldn’t enter the kitchen but he still was able to see them.

“ _Jesus!_ ” Dean startled. “We really should take more care with setting the wards back in place after you leave.” He grumbled. “What are you doing here, Balth?”

“Well a good morning to you too, Dean. As I was saying or better asking, what’s wrong with the little one? He sure made his discomfort known loudly last night. Anna came down to have a look but since you were upstairs, well…” Balthazar explained, watching every movement of Dean’s hands while he prepared a bottle with Sam’s formula while he also soaked some cereal in addition to that.

“Anna was here last night?” Dean looked up in surprise. She must have missed Cas by mere minutes then when he had come down to make the tea for Sam. “Looking at it now, it wasn’t anything terrible, a fever. The little man seems to have caught his first cold and that made him uncomfortable, obviously. Sorry that he kept you on edge.”

To be honest Dean hadn’t even thought about it during the night that Sam was kind of hot wired to heaven and that his being fussy and uncomfortable could have an impact upstairs.

Balthazar looked down at Sam who was happily drinking from his bottle as Dean made his way over closer to the angel.

“Oh no, don’t apologize to me. I was pretty focused on a mission I’d been given, I managed to push the connection back enough to ignore it. Besides I was pretty sure that if it was something really bad Cassie would have called for us directly. Anna was a little concerned, that’s why she came down to have a look herself but probably figured the same as me, that you would call for help if necessary. Michael and Lucifer though…” Balthazar laughed quietly, gently stroking through the soft locks on Sam’s head.

“Let’s just say, the way Anna told it to me this morning, that a couple of our younger angels are now even more afraid of the two of them than before. Maybe the connection is stronger for them because Gabe had been an archangel like them or something but the both of them really were on edge. They’ll probably be down sometime today themselves. All because of you, little man.” He smiled down at Sam.

The baby had finished with his bottle, coughing softly. The angel looked up again.

“You know I could heal him easily.”

“Nah.” Dean replied with a smile. “He needs this. He has to build up his immune system. A little cold doesn’t hurt him, it makes him stronger.” He explained, stopped in his movement and looked at Balthazar contemplatively. “Here, could you take him and feed him some of the cereal if he wants it?”

Gently he dropped Sam in Balthazar’s arms. With a quick flick of his fingers the angel had pulled a chair closer to the doorway to settle down in while feeding the baby.

Dean quickly stretched out his muscles. Now that his arms were free again he felt the strain Sam had put on them all night. Quickly he started to throw together the ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes –one of Cas’ favourites- while Balthazar watched.

“So, where is my dear brother?” he asked after some time when Dean had put the skillet on the stove.

“Upstairs, sleeping.” Were the only words Dean uttered to that, ignoring the knowing tone in Balthazar’s voice. There rationally was no way that he knew that Cas was lying in Dean’s bed… and nothing had happened anyway. “Oh, you want a coffee or something?”

“You are truly terrible at changing the subject, Dean Winchester.” Balthazar chuckled. “But I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee.”

A cup of coffee and a small plate of the first pancakes later, the angel bid his goodbye, promising to tell his brothers and sister that there was no reason to worry.

Baking the pancakes progressed a lot slower with only one free hand but Dean didn’t want to lay Sam down without supervision in the living room so he made do.

It was no easy feat either to balance the tray with breakfast and the baby at the same time but Dean managed with only a minimum of spilled coffee.

In the time he had been gone Cas had curled in on himself snoring softly in the soft morning light that streamed through the curtains.

Dean put down the tray on the mattress next to Cas and leaned down to nuzzle his cheek and ear.

“Cas, wake up. Breakfast is ready…” he murmured softly, pressing light kisses from Cas’ cheek up his temple rousing the former angel gently.

Slowly the dark haired man blinked his eyes open.

“Mmh… what? Morning…”

The elder Winchester chuckled.

“Pancakes…” was all the response Cas needed to fully wake up with a wide smile which made Sam squeal softly in response.

“Thank you, love.” Cas rumbled in an even deeper voice than usual, still thick with sleep as he sat up properly, stretching to reach Sam and press his lips to the baby’s forehead. “Morning Sammy.”


	9. Chapter 08

 

~*~ _A perfect example of minority rule is a baby in the house_ ~*~

After all the excitement of the demon attack and Sammy’s first cold and all the crankiness and crying that came with it, life in the Winchester-Novak household calmed down again.

Just like Balthazar had warned them Michael, Lucifer and Anna had visited them in the afternoon after that first fever night. The red-headed angel, already calmed by Balthazar’s news, had watched in amusement how her oldest brothers had been fussing over the little one. It had taken Cas and Dean’s interference to stop them from healing the baby several times, trying and obviously failing to explain to them that Sam needed to overcome that by himself to grow into a strong man again. It had been adorable and Cas had taken quite a lot of pictures.

Since then, however, another couple of weeks had passed and Sam was constantly growing. In fact he had outgrown the second set of clothes already and Dean started to wonder how his dad had managed the first time around without the help they had gotten from Bobby or a stable job.

So one morning the elder Winchester came down to the kitchen with a fully dressed baby in his arms watching Cas doing the dishes for a minute with a smile.

“Cas? Do you have anything planned already for today?” he asked after a while, stepping closer and pressing a quick kiss to the former angel’s neck.

The dark haired man had looked up from the soapy water and blinked. He had been lost in thought and hadn’t even heard Dean enter the kitchen.

“Nothing in particular. Some reading, some translating for Kevin… why?” he asked curiously. Dean rarely asked if he hadn’t something planned himself.

“I was thinking of going into town. Sammy’s wardrobe is pretty limited again already. He needs a couple of new things or we have to start doing the laundry every two days again.” Dean chuckled. “And then I thought we could have a look at those cars while we’re on the road already.”

Cas smiled. The car issue proved to be something Dean took pretty seriously. They had looked at a few of his pre-elected ones but there always had been something that stopped them from buying one in the end. But Cas was okay with Dean’s peculiarities, the elder Winchester just wanted him to be able to drive safely after all and it wasn’t like he needed it already.

Plus Sam’s wardrobe although by no means as limited as Dean made it out to be really could use a couple of new things. Not to mention that Cas liked these outings with his little family.

“Sure, sounds like a good plan to me. Just let me finish this first.”

He nodded in the direction of the few plates and cups that still needed cleaning.

Dean gently sat Sam down in his high chair, making sure that his baby brother sat securely.

“No rush…” he smile, snaking one arm around Cas’ waist and pulling him close. “You do that, I’ll leave Sammy with you while I go and pack the stroller in the car and get his diaper bag ready to go.” Another quick kiss and Dean was out the door already before Cas had a chance to say more.

“That’s alright I guess, we can manage a couple of minute alone, right Sammy?” he looked back at the baby boy who watched his every move with big, curious green eyes.

The little boy nodded enthusiastically and waved his well-loved black dog at Cas squealing another string of happy _dada_ s.

The former angel still had trouble wrapping his head around that particular idea. But Sam had quickly made clear that he was a smart boy indeed and knew his family and could distinguish them well enough. After dubbing Cas dada, the baby had soon after started to refer to Dean as deedee. Charlie who was probably the most frequent babysitter in the house even if Dean and Cas were there as well was lee or leelee just like Lucifer tended to be just lu. The other angels hadn’t gotten their own syllable names yet but that wasn’t exactly surprising seeing that Lucifer had spent a lot of time in their living room playing with the little one over the recent weeks.

In the end the only real mystery remained Sammy’s trusted stuffed dog in this whole name game. Neither Dean nor Cas had found out what Sam was calling it but that it had a name they were sure.

So Cas spent the next fifteen minutes finishing washing the dishes and making silly faces at Sammy to make the baby laugh while he dried them off.

~~**~~

Not long after they were bundled in the Impala and on their way into town.

First stop was with a car sale on the outskirts of town where Dean had seen something when he last drove by. He parked his baby next to the one he had in mind and left Cas to get Sam from his car seat in favour of going inside and get them help and more importantly the keys to have a good look inside.

Cas meanwhile circled the car slowly with Sam in his arms. He knew not enough about cars to recognize the model or anything specific but he liked what he saw from a purely aesthetic point of view. It was less bulky than the Impala, not as long but it didn’t seem a lot smaller at the same time. It was kind of weird. It had a dark blue metallic colour with a shiny silver bumper.

He looked at the car and thought that so far he could learn to like it and then Cas’ eyes found Sam again. The little boy curiously looked at the dark blue car then quickly turning his head and regarding the Impala thoughtfully then back at the blue one.

“Well? What is it, Sammy? You like the blue one?” the former angel murmured softly, a grin evident in his voice.

The baby boy squealed and Cas had an –admittedly silly- idea. He made his way back to the car front and stood in the middle between the blue car and the Impala. Slowly he took a step closer to the blue one.

“Now tell me again. Do you like this one?” he asked again and Sam giggled and squealed happily in response. Cas then turned around and walked closer to the Impala.

“You like this one?”

The baby squeals were a lot louder and Sam made an effort to flail his limbs all over the place, kicking Cas in the stomach, not that the former angel complained, Sam hadn’t enough strength to hurt him yet.

“What’s up you two? We could hear him inside, everything alright?” Dean called while walking closer, twirling the keys around his fingers with the salesman one step behind.

Cas looked up and laughed as Sam turned in his arms, holding his arms out to his brother, demanding that _deedee_ would take him.

“Everything’s fine. You can be satisfied, we examined the car closely and although your brother seems to like it, he obviously likes the Impala better.”

With an almost blinding grin Dean took Sam from Cas’ arms.

“Yeah of course you do, baby bug. You know a good car when you see one.”

Cas left the brothers to it and took the keys from Dean’s fingers, stepping closer to the salesman who had been waiting patiently a few steps away. When Cas came closer though, he immediately started to rattle of various information about the car. Cas listened diligently, nodding in understanding. A couple of things he recognized as things Dean had pointed out to him while working on the Impala but others were totally new to him. Luckily Sam and Dean had come closer again and Dean had also listened to the monologue, quickly engaging the man in a discussion about mileage and stuff.

The former angel used the shift in attention to open the car and look at the inside. It was nice and comfy for a car. The upholstery although not entirely new had gotten a good work over and the dashboard looked like dark polished wood. He liked it and Sam who was sitting on his lap soon after getting bored by Dean talking to the stranger seemed to agree, happily grabbing at every thing and hitting his little fists against the steering wheel only to freeze and start to wail in shock when he accidentally sounded the horn.

“Shh… it’s okay, it’s okay Sammy. Nothing happened!” he whispered to the crying child, softly pressing his lips to the light brown locks before clambering out of the car again.

Dean shot him a questioning look.

“I like it and Sammy likes it too even if he just scared himself half to death with the noise.” Cas explained.

\---

Not long after that they were back in the Impala driving to the next stop, the baby store. Dean had made another appointment to have another closer look at the car himself the next day before they would make the final decision to buy the car.

Buying clothes for Sam had gotten a lot easier. For one they knew by now what kind of clothes were practical and what Sam liked to wear or better get dressed in. There were certain things like flap trousers he obviously hated with a passion for some reason so they steered clear of them. Another thing was that Dean and Cas frequented always the same shop and the employees there knew them and Sammy by now.

It didn’t take them long to get what they needed and a couple things more –seriously would they ever be able to leave that shop without some extra toys and books for Sam?- to be able to leave again.

Since it was lunch time and Dean wasn’t particularly in the mood to cook first thing when they got home again, they decided to make a stop at a small coffee shop and diner. They left the car in the baby store parking lot, put Sam in the stroller and off they went.

At the coffee shop Cas took Sam in his arms again. The little boy was sleepy and rested his head against the former angel’s shoulder, blinking slowly at his surroundings while Dean got the stroller out of the way and secured them a table.

The dark haired man went to the counter where a young woman with dark brown curls was waiting to take orders.

“Excuse me. I’d like to have two coffees, a chicken sandwich, another with beef and one slice of your apple pie please.” Cas smiled at here friendly. “Oh and I don’t suppose you have a high chair we could use while we’re here for the little man?” he added when it looked like she had finished typing his order.

At that the woman really looked at him for first time instead of the quick glance she had spared him before. She blinked in surprise when she met Cas’ blue eyes and blushed a little. Then her gaze fell on Sam and she barely suppressed a squeal it seemed.

“Aw, aren’t you a little angel! Of course, we have one in the back, I bring it to you in a minute.” She rambled only meeting Cas’ eyes for short moments while she started preparing the order.

The former angel chuckled.

“You have no idea but thank you, it’s much appreciated.”

He waited for another moment, gently readjusting his grip on the baby.

“Can I do anything else for you? Something for your son?” she asked.

At her words it was Cas who blushed a little.

“Oh he’s not… I mean not really… Sam’s the brother of… erm… my partner over there…” he stuttered a little thrown by the situation. He and Dean hadn’t really talked about the specifics of terminology of their relationship but he thought that _partner_ summed it up well enough.

At his words the woman looked at her other customers for the first time and blushed again when she found Dean who was watching them with a raised eyebrow and slightly tilted head.

“Oh I’m sorry I just assumed… so you’re babysitting?” she asked further, quickly overcoming the short awkwardness of realizing that the man in front of her was taken.

“Actually no…” Cas wondered why she even cared and why he was answering her questions anyway. “We are bringing him up… Sammy sadly lost his parents shortly after his birth… we moved here recently to have a fresh start.”

Cas could see the sympathy of the woman in her eyes at his words.

“Oh that’s terrible, poor little darling… good thing that he has you to take care of him.” She murmured, putting everything on a tray.

“What do I owe you?” Cas asked after a moment of rummaging in his pocket to get to his wallet without disturbing the sleeping child too much.

Soon after he had paid and turned to go to the table when he had another thought. He faced her again and leaned a little closer.

“Excuse me if it’s too much to ask but would it maybe be possible for you to warm up the pie and include a bit of vanilla ice cream?” he asked and smiled at her. “Dean… my partner really loves pie, you see…”

For another second she blinked at the former angel who was suddenliy a lot closer, then turned and took another glance at Dean before she started to grin.

“Of course, no trouble at all. I’ll bring it over as soon as it’s ready. Now go, I’ll bring over your order and the high chair.” She nodded.

“Thank you very much!” Cas smiled and returned to the table Dean had chosen for them.

“What was that all about?” he asked still looking curiously. “Should I be concerned?”

“What do you mean?” Cas looked a little confused but didn’t say anything more when the brown haired woman arrived balancing the tray on one hand and carrying the high chair in the other. “Thank you.” The former angel smile gratefully earning a smile from her in response and another curious look from Dean.

The elder Winchester waited until she was out of earshot again before leaning closer to Cas on the pretence of helping him with Sam and the high chair.

“That. This girl was practically stripping you with her eyes first and suddenly she’s all emotional.”

Cas chuckled.

“You’re being ridiculous Dean we were talking about Sam, that’s all.”

The blond man was obviously not entirely convinced by Cas words but was interrupted again when a snarky voice came from behind him.

“My my, look at that, I leave you alone for a couple of weeks and you are fighting already?” Crowley smirked and pulled a chair closer, settling in between Sam and Cas without invitation.

Dean nostrils flared and his jaw snapped shut at the demon’s voice.

“Crowley, what do you want? And just for the record, we weren’t fighting, right Cas?”

The former angel shrugged and turned a little to the side to have a better look at the king of hell.

“I want nothing in particular. Just making sure that the angel squad hasn’t turned on you and I haven’t seen this little guy for a while, you can’t begrudge me that, can you Winchester? I saved your life after all. And since your house is like Fort Knox I thought I catch you here.” He turned and waved at the waitress to bring him a cup of coffee as well.

Dean couldn’t deny the truth of that statement, as much as he wanted to.

“Yeah, alright…” he muttered and took a big bite out of his beef sandwich to keep himself of saying more.

“Why do you think my brothers and sisters would turn on us?” Castiel wondered out loud, his head tilted to the side.

At that Crowley chuckled.

“You seriously are adorable when you do that, angel boy. But well, call it natural distrust. The last time they gathered around you everything went to shit, that’s why. Not that I’m really expecting it after last time but caution never was a bad idea.” The demon explained turning his attention to the baby on his other side, watching him with a surprisingly soft expression.

Cas hummed thoughtfully. Crowley had a point there but Michael’s gratitude after the last attack had been honest and he was sure that everything would stay fine, even this truce with the demon himself.

Meanwhile Sam roused a little again blinking at the newcomer with big eyes watching him shyly, obviously trying to place the face with the people he knew more or less but failing which was no wonder.

“Sam’s a little cautious and shy around strangers… smart little man.” Dean mumbled carefully keeping an eye on his baby brother and the demon.

“Smart boy indeed, I wouldn’t have expected anything else of the baby moose.” Crowley smiled and effectively sent a shiver down Dean’s spine with it. They had seen Crowley grin and smirk and chuckle even laugh outright but this open smile was new and definitely weird.

“But I see at least my little present stayed with him.”

At those words both Cas and Dean chuckled.

“What?” the king of hell demanded raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“ _Stayed_ with him is an understatement. It almost pains me to say so but this dog never leaves Sam’s side. Once we put it in a bag with his other stuff and he cried nonstop until he had it in his fingers again.” Dean explained and sighed.

“Aw moose, aren’t you a sweet little thing, I’m flattered.”

Whatever it was that Sam had taken from that conversation if it was the fact that his brother talked to the stranger calmly or if he remembered Crowley’s voice, it was anyone’s guess but he obviously decided that he liked the demon, enough to wave his favourite dog at Crowley babbling happily.

The demon leaned a little closer and smiled at the little boy, making silly faces to make him squeal even louder. After a little while Sam calmed down suddenly and regarded Crowley with thoughtful eyes before he stretched out his hand with the black dog and handed it over to the man.

“Thank you baby moose but that was a present for you, I can’t take it back now. And who would look after you if I take him with me?” Crowley murmured in a soft voice, taking the dog only for a short moment to play with it in front of Sam before giving it back again.

Dean and Cas’ surprised and shocked observation of this interaction got interrupted by the waitress when she brought over the warmed apple pie with vanilla ice cream for Dean.

The former angel smiled gratefully at her and Dean couldn’t help but gape between the pie and Cas’ face before his eyes softened in adoration and then took over a shimmer of guilt.

“That’s what you’ve been whispering about, right?” He asked softly. The dark haired man nodded with a grin, understanding without it being said that Dean felt stupid for assuming anything else before.

“Sorry…” Dean added before relishing in the taste of the pie.

“Oh goody, family peace re-established. Winchester you really are easy to make peace with, if only I had known that before… I know this extraordinary French baker.” Crowley remarked, smirking around his last sip of coffee.

“Anyway boys, I’ll take my leave again… and before I forget it, I think I got to most of Abaddon’s minions by now so you shouldn’t have any problems there anymore.”

The demon flicked his wrist and a couple of dollar notes appeared on the table before he himself vanished

Sam was a little upset at the sudden disappearance of his latest playmate but was quickly appeased when Dean gave him a small taste of the creamy filling.

~~**~~

Later that evening while Cas was taking a shower, Dean was sitting in the living room. The TV was on but only on low as Dean was skimming through a magazine. Sam was lying at his feet playing peacefully with his stuffed toys and other things scattered around him.

“I would never have thought that it would turn out like this, Sammy… You were always a little special in your friendships but I would never have expected you to make friends with Crowley and Lucifer like that and that even without being able to talk… or maybe that’s the reason… good thing you’re adorable…” Dean rambled absentmindedly.

He had been thinking about their afternoon, about the soft expression on Crowley’s face. An expression Dean admitted in the safety of his mind looked a lot like the one he always had wished to see on John’s face. Proud and adoring. It was kind of creepy, especially since they had once met with Crowley’s actual son and he had seen with his own eyes how broken that particular relationship had been. How could it be that the demon got so protective of Sam? They had tried to kill each other on several occasions after all.

Of course the baby hadn’t responded to Dean’s little monologue and his thoughts got interrupted by the blaring ring of his mobile phone.

“Charlie… what can I do for your majesty?” he said by way of greeting because only one person had that particular ringtone.

“You could tell me what you are planning for Saturday in two weeks!” the red headed girl demanded on the other end of the line.

Dean rubbed his face and threw the magazine on the table, thinking.

“I don’t know? Can’t say that we’ve planned anything yet, in case you forgot we have a baby to take care of and he is a little unpredictable.”

“Funny, as if I could forget the little sunshine but seriously, how can’t you have planned anything yet? It’s Cas’ first official birthday as a human, that just calls for a big celebration! Don’t tell me you forgot!” she berated him as she interpreted Dean’s stunned silence correctly. “I can’t believe you, Winchester!”

“Shit!” the blond man exhaled. “I really forgot about that. Damn it, time really is flying with everything that happened. Man what do we do? You are right we need to celebrate that appropriately!”

Charlie chuckled at the sudden tone of agitation in Dean’s voice.

“You are lucky that I’m already three steps ahead of you, just in case… so I’ve been thinking of making good use of the still warm weather and make a proper barbecue, I know you love those plus I remember Cas’ specific love for a good burger from the Carver Edlund books. And it does have the benefit of being outside so we can invite all his brothers and sister without a problem. And we can take Sam inside if he gets tired where it’ll be silent enough.”

Dean listened silently and nodded until he realized that Charlie couldn’t see him.

“Sounds good to me. Anything else?”

“Well, we should talk about who else will be invited. I would have suggested making it a big surprise for him but I don’t think that’s possible.” Charlie continued and Dean could hear the soft tapping of keys suggesting that Charlie was typing away while they were talking.

“You, Kevin and Garth, obviously. I think Jody. The family… maybe Lisa and Ben, we promised to stay in touch with them anyway and I’m sure Lisa wants to see our new home so that would be a good reason to invite her over. Anyone else I’d have to talk to Cas about it. I’ll let you know.” The elder Winchester listed off, picking on the plushy parts of their cushions. Suddenly he groaned.

“Charlie, I need a present…”

At that the girl laughed loudly.

“You got that right, Winchester. And a good one at that, it’s his first birthday as a human and his first birthday since you got together, it certainly needs to be something special!” she said gleefully.

“You are so not helping, Charlie. What do I do? I’m absolutely shit at presents!” Dean whined, despairing at the thought of buying a present for Cas.

Charlie was still chuckling but obviously took pity on her favourite handmaiden.

“Tell you what, Dean. You try to come up with ideas and then we’ll talk about them. I will tell you if your ideas are shit or not before you embarrass yourself and then we can go shopping together.”

“Are you serious?” the elder Winchester asked just in case his wishful thinking had played tricks on him just then.

“When have I ever not been serious, Dean! Of course. Think about it, we talk about it in a couple of days and take it from there.” She suggested before she changed the subject. “Okay now that we talked about that, how is the little sunshine?”

Dean grinned. It was kind of funny how each and every one of them had their personal nickname for Sam since he became a baby again.

“Oh he’s fine, he befriended Crowley again today… it was almost cute. And right now he’s play…” the blond looked down at the play blanket at his feet where he would have sworn Sam had been lying just a moment before. “Sam? Sammy?” Dean sat up and looked around.

The red head on the other end of the line heard the sudden change in Dean’s tone. “Dean, what’s wrong? What’s the matter with Sam?”

But the elder Winchester ignored her questions for the moment and got up from the sofa, taking a couple of steps and stopping again, blinking furiously. “Sammy…” he murmured stunned. “Erm Charlie, Sam’s alright. Give me a moment, okay? I call you back in a minute.”

Without waiting for an answer he ended the call, immediately starting the filming option on his phone.

“Cas? Come down here, quickly!” he called for the former angel, effectively getting Sam’s attention as well.

The dark haired man had been on his way downstairs already when Dean had called for him and rushed into the living room instantly.

“What? What’s the matter… oh my god…” he started to ask, voice quickly changing into an awed whisper.

Both adults stood in the middle of the room watching with wide eyes how Sam started to discover his surroundings on his own, crawling slowly and a little clumsily for the first time, coming closer to them.

“This is so cute…” Dean whispered and his pride was more than obvious in his voice.

“More like awe-inspiring…” Cas replied, sinking to his knees slowly and welcoming the baby boy in his arms when he reached them.

~~**~~

Charlie had stared disbelievingly at her mobile phone when Dean had cut the call so abruptly. A soft flutter of anxiety made its place in her chest because although Dean had said that Sam was alright there had been something unmistakably weird about the elder Winchester’s tone.

Twenty minutes later the mystery was solved when she received a message from Dean saying _Sorry for cutting you off but I had a good reason!_ including a video file.

The resulting squeal was heard everywhere in the bunker and quickly drew Kevin and Garth to her side, all three of them watching in awe the video of Sam crawling for the first time on repeat for fifteen minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick announcement: Since I had a bit of a writing problem I'm taking a week off to figure out how the next chapter will play out. That means next week there won't be an update but I fully intent to be back on schedule on March 4th. See you then!


	10. Chapter 09

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Cas' big day~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, I'm back on schedule again and can present to you Chapter 09.  
> First of all thank you to those of you who took the time to leave a comment and also all those who left me kudos you have no idea how happy you guys make me with this.  
> Also a quick heads up for you this story will probably have two or three more chapters after this one to complete Sam's first year which more or less coincides with Christmas and New Years. After this, don't fret it's not over yet, I plan to add a couple of one-shots from different age stages of Sam. I guess those won't come weekly but still regularly enough. Now that you know all this, enjoy the new chapter. Some new side development here, please let me know what you think of it.

 

~*~ _The love of a family is life’s greatest blessings_ ~*~

Dean was sitting outside on the front porch with a bottle of beer next to him and his phone in his hand.  
Talking to Cas about Charlie’s idea for his birthday party had been an easy thing to do, his angel had been so obviously thrilled by the prospect of having all their friends and his family together to celebrate this human ritual for the very first time that he quickly agreed to anything he suggested. When it came to the guest list he had agreed as well but had added Crowley to it.

That Dean had been surprised by that action would have been an understatement but the former angel had reasoned that the king of hell deserved the benefit of the doubt. He had been nothing but helpful ever since Sam’s change and their retirement. He had more then a small soft spot for the little one and Michael and Lucifer were on civil terms with him. And most importantly in Cas’ argumentation was the fact that Crowley had saved Dean’s life when they had been attacked, that alone should earn him an invitation in the former angel’s opinion.

Even the issue of finding a suitable present for Cas solved itself just like that and it all got Charlie approved so it wasn’t just Dean who thought it was awesome.  
For one he had gone to his appointment at the car sale and he quickly had decided to take the car. Cas knew about that one what he didn’t know was that he had brought it over to the bunker garage and was going over everything again almost daily when he said that he had things to do. Sure Cas wasn’t stupid but what exactly he was doing he didn’t know and that was enough for Dean. So he was working the car over, repairing a couple of small things and polishing everything. Charlie would bring the car over on the day of Cas’ birthday.

The second present was actually Dean’s first choice other than the car which was more of a necessity than much of a present really. He had done a bit of research and uncovered a rare book of lore in an original ancient Greek edition which he just _knew_ that Cas would love. He paid a good amount of money for it and charmed his way into extra fast delivery with the girl at the antique store to make sure that it was ready when the day came.

It was actually on the day he was supposed to get the book from the store –it had arrived even faster than Dean had expected- when he passed the jewellery store windows and instantly fell in love with the ultimately third present he got for Cas. It wasn’t big or especially fancy, they were just a small pair of silver wings on a matching silver chain but it communicated more than anything that whatever had happened Cas would always be an angel in Dean’s mind. He had seen the necklace and hadn’t thought twice about it.

When he had brought the jewellery box and the book back to the bunker and showed them to Charlie, the red head had smirked at him. _You don’t suck at giving presents that badly after all… or maybe it’s just Cas…_ she had said while patting him on the shoulder.

He hadn’t showed it of course but that backwards compliment made him happy to no end. And maybe she was right, present giving between brothers had always been connected with a bit of teasing and the lack of money when Sam and he had been younger, that had been one thing but with the few girlfriends he had had in the past it had never been even close to what he had with Cas, maybe his inability to find the right present had something to with that and now that he had found Cas it was easier. And it also probably helped that Cas wasn’t really expecting anything. He just wanted to spend the day with friends and family.

So now he was sitting there, sipping from his beer before he called Lisa. He felt a bit guilty because they had promised her and Ben to keep in contact but he hadn’t managed to call her more than once since they appeared out of nowhere with baby-fied Sam months ago.

But in the end he kicked himself into finally calling her because other than lecture him she couldn’t really do and Lisa wasn’t one to hold a grudge.  
He took another drink while it was ringing.

“You know? I don’t normally take calls from strangers.” Lisa’s voice came over the phone after a couple of rings and a distinct click.

“I know I could have called more often but I’m hardly a stranger so you are good in that case… hey Lis.” The Winchester chuckled.

“Right you are. One phone call every 4 months isn’t exactly staying in touch, Dean Winchester! At least you have the decency to know that you should have called more often.” The woman on the other end of the line said a little pissy but the amused undertone told Dean that it was alright really.

“In my defence, you could have called me as well. Anyway I’m calling now. So how are you? How’s Ben?” he asked honestly curious and concerned for their well-being. There weren’t many people he considered family, especially not outside the life-style so far but those two definitely were family.

“Ben’s fine as far as I can tell… he’s slowly getting to _that_ age. You should see his room, you wouldn’t recognize it anymore. The times that he liked dinosaurs are over, sadly. It’s okay though as long as he stays on top of his game at school. Other than that, I’m good too. Work’s okay… oh and I forgot to tell you last time but the neighbourhood rumour mill went just a little batshit crazy after your visit. A couple of them remembered you and suddenly there is a baby and another man. There might have even been the accusations that I put you off women entirely.” Lisa said and by the sound of it trying hard not to burst into a fit of giggles even after all this time.

Dean blinked in surprise quickly going through everything his ex-girlfriend told him but couldn’t help but laugh- loud and hard. Enough for Cas to come out and look after him. A quirked eyebrow was all he needed to convey the _everything alright_ to Dean but the elder Winchester nodded and mouthed a silent _later_ back.

“Seriously? I always knew that this neighbourhood was worse than any Spanish soap opera. But…” Dean’s eyes flicked back to Cas and he held out a hand, pulled the former angel next to him and put his arm comfortably around his waist.  
“…that’s actually one of the many things I wanted to tell you… they weren’t wrong… I mean they definitely are on the last part and they were wrong at the time but… not anymore.” He said cryptically.

Lisa, with her female intuition and uncanny knowledge of Dean, had no problem to decipher what the Winchester meant.  
“You finally got your act together?”

Dean chuckled again.  
“Actually he did which is a good thing because you know me it would have taken probably years until I got the move on.” He shared a loving smile with Cas and pressed a soft kiss to his temple.

Cas just smiled happily, now also understanding the bits and pieces of conversation he just heard.

“Good for you, I’m happy, Dean. I mean it was glaringly obvious when you were here but I didn’t think it was the right time to comment on it with Sam and everything. So yeah, good thing that got sorted out. And even better to know that I wasn’t the reason for it.” She replied earnestly.  
“What else did you want to talk about?”

“Thanks, Lis. It means a lot to me and Cas too. He says ‘hi’ by the way. And he actually is the reason I was calling in the first place. My dear angel here celebrates his very first birthday as a human next Saturday and we would like to invite you and Ben to party with us and to show you our new home. That is of course if you are okay to spend the weekend with us, Sam, our hunter friends, Cas’ angelic siblings and the king of hell. You’d be pretty much the only civilian.” Dean explained.

“Aww, that’s so sweet of you. Of course we’ll be there, how could we not celebrate Cas’ birthday with you. And I think we get along with your other guests. I mean you wouldn’t invite them all together if they didn’t get along and you taught Ben and me enough to know what we’re dealing with. Is there a motel close by?”

“Perfect. And you don’t need a motel, you can stay here there is enough room for you and Ben can sleep on the couch. Let me know when you’ll be here, you’re welcome anytime.”

The woman agreed to that happily enough. After that the conversation changed to Sam and Dean was basically gushing over his baby brother’s achievements.

The elder Winchester pressed a kiss to Cas’ lips when he ended the call a couple of minutes later.  
“They’ll be here and if we are very lucky they’ll arrive Friday already which means Lisa has the time to bake her Blueberry-Apple Pie.” He beamed. The former angel had heard of the pie before, it was something of legend apparently, a recipe from Lisa’s grandmother. Dean had told him how Lisa had tried to teach him during the year he lived with her but for some reason he never managed to make it as tasty as hers.

“That sounds wonderful.” He smiled.

Together they got to their feet and returned inside to check on Sam who was sleeping on his blanket. Since he started to crawl they had gotten a play fence to block of a certain space. That way he had enough room to practice but they didn’t have to worry for his safety.

Dean proceeded to prepare a small dinner while he told Cas about Lisa’s neighbourhood gossip. The former angel had been amazed and amused to say the least.

~~**~~

Inviting the remaining guests was even easier. The angels visited more often than not anyway so it was no problem to invite them. Michael and Lucifer had been a bit confused by the whole concept and the fuss with it but Balthazar and Anna promised to explain it to them.

Crowley had been a bit more of a hassle since he didn’t stop by regularly but with a well-timed call they had gotten in touch with him as well. Of course Crowley had been his smug self when Dean invited him on Cas’ behalf. But the elder Winchester ignored it just warned the demon to be nice to everyone else, especially Kevin. Nobody wanted to ruin Cas’ first birthday experience after all.

And just like that the time went by and it was Friday a lot faster than they had thought.  
Lisa and Ben were on their way already and Cas was busy dusting his bedroom and putting fresh sheets on the bed for the woman. The former angel spent most of his nights in Dean’s room anyway so they figured that Cas’ room made a good guest room for now and Ben would sleep on the couch in the living room as planned.

Dean was in the living room with Sam playing with a plush ball and training Sam’s coordination. The Winchesters were sitting opposite of each other and rolling the ball to the other or that was the plan in theory since Sam’s rolls tended to go all over the place. But the two of them had fun anyway, the baby boy was babbling constantly and Dean replied to him every time he got a word in edgewise like they were having a real conversation.

When the doorbell rang later on Dean scooped his brother in his arms and went to greet their guest.  
Ben had been the one to ring the bell because Lisa was still standing in front of the house positively gaping.  
“Hey there big man!” Dean greeted Ben in a half hug that the teenager reciprocated happily before entering the house to have a look around.

“Dean Winchester, this house is amazing! And all this space around…” were the first words to leave Lisa’s mouth when she finally stepped closer to greet him as well.

“Hey Lisa…” he smiled brightly. “It is, isn’t it? Cas and I practically fell in love the moment we came up the drive. It’s perfect and you haven’t even seen the inside yet. Come on in, how was the drive?”

The woman chuckled at Dean’s words the Winchester had changed so much since he had been living with her.  
“Oh it was fine or as fine as it can be with a broody teenager next to you.” She snickered because Ben had reappeared behind Dean and glared at her.

“I heard that mum!” he grumbled.  
“Doesn’t make it less true though. And Sammy, how are you?” she smiled at the child who looked at her curiously but a little shy.

“He’s fine, right baby bug? We were just playing and working on his sports career. Sammy say hello to Lisa.” Dean looked down at his brother grinned before he looked back at Lisa.  
“Sorry he’s a little shy around new people at the moment.

“Don’t apologize, it’s normal at his age and a healthy dose of shyness and mistrust in strangers is a very good thing. I’m sure we’ll be friends very soon, Sammy.” She smiled at the child.

“Lisa, it’s great to see you, thank you for coming.” Cas greeted the woman. “And there’s Ben, hello to you too. You’ve grown since the last time we saw you.”

Ben nodded proudly, mumbling a _hey Cas_.  
“It’s good to be here, thank you for the invitation Cas. Your home is a thing of beauty!” Lisa started but was interrupted and stunned silent when she watched how Sam perked up at the sound of Cas’ voice and looked around until his eyes had zeroed in on the former angel, happily squirming in Dean’s arms, squealing _dada_.

“Yes, hello to you too, Sammy. It’s good that you’re here as well…” Cas smiled at the child and took him in his arms, pressing a quick kiss to Sam’s nose, making the baby boy laugh happily.

“Oh my god!” Lisa squealed and made one of the sappiest faces Dean had ever seen.

After Dean had showed Lisa where she would be sleeping and a detailed tour of the house including the sketched from Cas for Dean’s auto shop in the yard, the two of them went to work. Dean had made sure that they had more than enough ingredients for the pie and it didn’t take long for a delicious smell to waft through the house.

They talked a lot while Cas and Ben sat in the living room. The younger one was playing with Sam smiling all the time and asking the former angel a lot of questions.

They were only shortly interrupted by the sudden appearance of Michael who scared Ben to no end but the situation was remedied quickly after Cas had introduced them.  
The older angel looked Ben –who had instinctively taken a protective stance in front of Sam- curiously up and down before smiling at him.  
Cas didn’t say anything but he was a little surprised by the smile. He knew that smile, it was Michael’s _you did good_ smile and it usually was reserved for the younger angels in his care after they successfully completed a mission or training he sent them on.

As it turned out the angel just wanted to check in when they were expected the next day. Cas used the opportunity to inform them that they would put up the wards for the weekend to make sure that Ben had a bit of privacy in the room.

~~**~~

The next day began extra early in Dean’s case. He got up just before sunrise and carefully extracted himself from Cas’ embrace. The former angel had a habit of wrapping himself tightly around the Winchester during the night, probably in an unconscious effort to shield him from harm or something.

Silently he made his way into the kitchen and prepared two perfect cups of coffee for them which he took back upstairs again.  
After putting them on the nightstand Dean left the room once more and gently roused Sam from sleep and got the two presents he had hidden in the nursery.

Had Sam been only a little more alert, Cas would have been awake a lot quicker but since the baby still was half asleep Dean had the honour to wake his lover with a soft kiss to his nose.  
“Wake up birthday boy!” he whispered with a smile.

It took a bit of time as it usually did when Cas didn’t wake up on his own but finally he stirred and blinked his eyes open, smiled immediately when the first thing he saw were the two most important people in his life.  
“Good morning!” he rumbled, even deeper and raspier than normal.

Dean leaned in again and kissed Cas softly  
“Happy Birthday!” he grinned and held Sam a little closer so that the child could press his face against Cas’ cheek.

They snuggled up together enjoying the coffee before Dean brought out the present.  
He held the bigger package out to Cas with the explanation that it was from Sam and him.

Cas beamed at the two Winchesters and slowly peeled away the wrapping paper, gasped silently when he got a good look at the book in his hands.  
“Dean… this is extraordinary, there had been only a very small number of these books.”

“I know and I figured you deserved to own one of them.” The elder Winchester explained. Then he gave Cas the significantly smaller package and smiled at him.  
“And that’s a little something I got for you. Happy Birthday again!”

If Cas’ eyes had been wide when he unwrapped the book, they got an impossible width when he opened the jewellery box.  
The former angel sat up a little straighter, touched the silver wings with an awed expression.  
“Dean… they’re beautiful. Thank you so much. You didn’t have to…”

“You’re welcome, love. And I know that but I wanted to. You deserve them more than anyone! My angel who raised me from perdition.” Dean smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners. Gently he let go of Sam and took the necklace from Cas’ hands to put it on him, smiled proudly at the glinting silver in the sunlight of the early morning.

The former angel only beamed happily into the green eyes of his Dean Winchester.

\---

The remainder of the morning went over in a blur. Together they went to the kitchen where Dean prepared a breakfast feast for all of them and Ben had shuffled into the room just when the first pancakes hit the plate. The teenager grinned at Dean with his mouth full. Apparently Ben had missed his breakfast making skills even if Lisa’s were just as good.

They had gotten a soft woollen sweater in dark blue for Cas and the moment the dark haired man held it in front of himself Dean knew why Lisa had chosen it. In contrast to the dark blue of the sweater Cas’ eyes lit up brightly like an icy blue flame.

Shortly after noon the next couple of guests arrived: Charlie, Garth, Kevin and Jody –who had spend the night at the bunker- came over bringing with them all the ingredients they would need for the barbecue and a couple of folding chairs and tables they had found in one of the bunker storages.

Also Charlie had been the one to drive over Cas shiny new blue car which they all went out to look at of course. Ben, almost as much of a car enthusiast as Dean, instantly began to talk shop with the elder Winchester while Jody took over Sam and Charlie started talking to Lisa like the two women knew each other for years instead of minutes.  
Cas help Garth and Kevin to put up the grill and used the calm moment to inform the young prophet beforehand that they had invited Crowley as well.

Kevin hadn’t exactly been happy about the news. He still disliked the demon with a passion but he also knew about and appreciated what he did for Sam, Dean and Cas so he agreed that he could at least act civil around Crowley as long as the king of hell behaved which he had promised Dean he would.

With everyone helping out they quickly had prepared the backyard for the celebration. They brought out the pies Lisa and Dean had baked the day before and Charlie and Garth didn’t let the chance slide to sing a celebratory song for Cas.

Soon after the present guests all had their pieces of pie, in a flurry of fluttering wings Cas’ siblings arrived.  
“Congratulations, brother dearest!” Balthazar grinned at Cas and pulled him into a hug closely followed by Anna and the others.

Lisa seemed a little overwhelmed by this sudden arrival but she spent enough time around Dean to get her bearings back again quickly. Dean introduced her to everyone and just as he finished introducing Lucifer (including calming her down that Luke actually was a decent guy) Crowley arrived as well.

There was a split second of tension in the air and then the party resumed like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

After everyone gave Cas their congratulations the attention shifted to the youngest of the fold naturally. Sam squealed happily at being the centre of everyone’s attention and having his family all together.

Lucifer –always the first one to play with Sam- soon lay on the grass with the child on his stomach laughing happily.

Lisa curiously watched the scene and made a face between a grin and a frown.  
“I understand he’s not what you had expected my brother to be?”

The dark haired woman looked up into warm green-grey eyes and an amused smile.  
“I have to admit, not at all. In my defence, though, the last time I really heard anything about him was after Dean came to me when Sam sacrificed himself. Dean never gave me the full story of that one but he wasn’t exactly happy with either of you but obviously that changed quite drastically.”

Michael took a sip from the beer bottle Dean had given him and chuckled guiltily.  
“Ah yes… of course that wasn’t the best first impression. A lot has happened since then, we got over our differences… well and what can I say, we had always a strong connection to the Winchesters but after my brother Gabriel’s sacrifice Sam is like a brother to us and we protect our own. Plus, a long time ago when Luke was freed, the man whose form he uses here had just lost his child, I suspect a remnant of those parental feelings is what draws him to Sam even more now.”

The angel took a break and huffed another laugh.  
“I’m sorry I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this. The thing is Lucifer would never let come harm to Sam, Dean or Cas and neither will I.” he turned his gaze back to Lisa again. “The same goes for the people close to them.” He smiled.

Lisa blushed surprised and overwhelmed by the depth of Michael’s words. She just met the guy… angel but for some reason she felt comfortable in his presence.  
“Thank you Michael. I appreciate that especially because of my son.”

Both of them searched out the teenager with their eyes. The boy was sitting on a chair with another piece of pie on his plate animatedly talking with Crowley and Balthazar. The two adults were laughing heartily at whatever story the kid told them. Lisa wondered what he was telling them about but knowing her son it probably was something about the time Dean spent with them.

\---

The day went on without a hitch. Despite the differences between them they all got along famously.  
Dean was content as he stood at the grill keeping an eye on the food but otherwise observing their guests, all happily engaged in conversations.

Two warm arms slung around his waist from behind and a kiss was pressed to his neck.  
“Best birthday ever!” Cas murmured happily into Dean’s ear.

The elder Winchester laughed.  
“It’s your first official one how can you know? There will be many more and I plan to make every single one the best day ever.” Dean laughed back.

“Well in that case, best birthday ever for now. But seriously thank you, Dean. This is really amazing.” Cas smiled resting his chin on the shoulder of the slightly bigger one.

“It is and I think we have to be grateful to your brother who ultimately made all this possible. We should drink to Gabriel’s memory later.” Dean said thoughtfully.

“That’s a wonderful idea, we should do that. I think everyone present is grateful today.”

Dean carefully turned the burger patties around before he turned a little in Cas’ arms.  
“That wasn’t the only reason you came to me right?” the Winchester knew his angel, there was something on his mind but judging by the grin on his lips it was nothing negative.

“You are right.” He didn’t say more, however, just covertly pointed in the direction a little to the side where Lisa was standing, watching Ben and Michael. Dean couldn’t see exactly what they were doing but he knew the expression on Lisa’s face and his eyebrows shot up.

“No way!” he chuckled.

“It certainly looks like it. Oh and I got a gift certificate from Charlie for her taking Sam for a weekend to provide a bit of alone time for us.” Cas said nonchalantly but his voice had a heavily suggestive undertone that made Dean start and then grin widely.  
“I knew Charlie had the best ideas!”

\---

Later when it got dark everyone helped to get things in order again. Crowley was the first to leave, closely followed by Garth, Charlie, Kevin and Jody.

The angels were the last ones to leave but not without Dean stepping in Michael’s way.  
The archangel raised a questioning eyebrow when Dean asked him for a word in privacy. It was a rare occurrence after all.

“Michael, thank you for coming, it meant a lot to Cas.” The Winchester started.

“You are welcome, it was our pleasure. You have a nice bunch of friends.” Michael replied a little confused.

“Ah thanks for that graceful connection. My friends… I couldn’t help but notice…” he meaningfully nodded in Lisa and Ben’s direction. “Don’t take it personally but I do have an obligation so let me make this clear: you bring harm of any kind to them or you hurt her, I still have an archangel blade and I know how to use it.”

Dean looked sternly at the angel whose facial expression rapidly changed from confusion to disbelieve to a small and tentative smile.  
“Message received loud and clear.” He responded.

“Good, now that that’s out of the way.” Dean winked at him. “If you do like her like Cas suspects, you have my blessings as long as you treat her right and by her I mean her and Ben! Take good care of her, you hear me!”

“I will, Dean. Thank you!” Michael nodded and turned to go, leaving the garden together with his siblings only moments later.

Later that night when Dean and Cas laid comfortably in bed the former angel chuckled softly.  
“I would never have thought that I would see the day that Michael looks so subdued by someone other than our father, it’s just one more piece of evidence that my initial gut feeling was right when I saw him smiling at Ben yesterday.”

“He better was because I meant what I said. If he hurts Lisa or Ben I will hunt his ass down even if it’s the last thing I do.” Dean grinned and although his words were forceful there was no real heat in them because deep down he knew that Michael was Cas’ brother and as such would do anything and more to keep his loved ones safe.


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gossip, bath times and a first date.

 

~*~ _If you truly loved someone you won't become their enemy. You will become their guardian angel._ ~*~

„Luke? Balthazar? Anna? Someone? I could really use some help down here…“ Charlie’s desperate whisper went almost unheard over Sam’s heartbreaking cries.

It was a couple of weeks after Cas’ birthday party and the red head had finally convinced Dean and Cas to make use of her birthday present and go on a real date.

The reason why both men had stalled for time had been Sam of course. Even though neither of the two said it out loud, they couldn’t bear the thought of leaving their baby boy alone for a night.

Sam’s separation anxiety had taken a turn for the better, that much was true but he still was clingy and could get impossibly unhappy if both of them left the room for too long. So the prospect of leaving him with Charlie for an evening and night hadn’t sounded very appealing in that respect, as much as they liked the thought of having the house to themselves.

That’s why it had taken Charlie nearly five weeks to change their mind and now she was pacing the length of the library at the bunker, gently rocking Sam in her arms, trying and failing to sooth his crying. The baby had been at it for the past hour already, varying in volume but with no sign of stopping any time soon.

Everything had been fine when she had picked him up, getting all the last minute instructions she already knew but obviously were part of the whole parenting make-up. Sam had been surprisingly calm about the whole thing and was giggling happily when Charlie strapped him into the car seat in her car.

It had taken Sam apparently two hours of happily playing with Charlie and a nap to realize that he hadn’t seen Cas or his brother for quite some time and it only got worse from that point onwards. She had managed to distract him with food and some music but when the time came for his bath and bedtime routine he had lost it.

Since then Charlie tried to calm him down. Garth and Kevin should have been there to help her but the hunter had gotten an emergency call from a friend for immediate back up on a hunt and had taken Kevin with him.

The red head refused to admit defeat though and call Dean and Cas already not without trying everything else. So she decided on calling for angelic back up.

It didn’t take long for the tell-tale flutter of wings to sound next to her and she internally thanked whoever wanted to listen that the bunker was warded against about everything but still allowed the angels in.

She turned and was faced with Anna and Lucifer both with angel blades drawn scanning the surroundings.  
“Charlie? What’s the matter?” Anna asked curiously, letting the blade disappear when she was sure that no threat was around.

Lucifer raised a questioning eyebrow and looked at the still crying baby in the red heads arms.  
“I suppose you need help with Sam.”  
It took the archangel two strides to stand directly in front of Charlie and take the boy from her arms.

“Hey pumpkin, what got you so upset, mh?” he asked softly, gently stroking Sam’s hair.  
The sudden change in position and the new presence stopped Sam’s crying at least for the moment as he looked up into the brilliant ice blue eyes of the blonde angel.

“I babysit him tonight. I don’t know it was fine when I picked him up and while we were playing but ever since he got up from his –admittedly late- nap he’s been unhappy and when I tried to bathe him… well the bathroom looks a bit like a soapy war zone now. He’s been crying ever since. I guess he misses Dean and Cas but I promised them a night to themselves and don’t want to ruin that.” Charlie explained.

“Is that right pumpkin? You miss dada and deedee? I’m sure they miss you too but that is no reason to make a lady sad, Sammy. We don’t do that. Now, how about we try that bath again, mh? Just the two of us?” Lucifer murmured soothingly and Sam looked at him with big shiny green eyes but didn’t start crying again.

“And if you are a good boy during your bath I’ll tell you an extra long bedtime story, how does that sound?” the blond angel continued, slowly making his way to the bathroom, gently tickling Sam’s side eliciting a high-pitched giggle.

Charlie looked after them incredulously. “Did he just… how the heck did he do that? Did he angel mojo Sam or something?” she looked at Anna who grinned widely.

“I can promise you, Luke didn’t angel mojo Sam. He would never do that. Besides with Sam it’s not necessary. We are still a little unsure about why Sam took to Luke like that but our best guess is a combination of their _true vessel_ connection, the residue of Gabriel’s grace –who had always been Lucifer’s favourite little brother- and the memories of being a father from Luke’s vessel that make his actions more natural. Or maybe it has nothing to do with any of that and Sam just likes Lucifer, the way he certainly likes Crowley much to Dean’s dismay.” Anna chuckled and Charlie joined her soon after.

She hadn’t met Crowley before Sam’s turn, their official retirement and the following truce with the king of hell. The way she got to know him Crowley was a snarky, sarcastic guy who liked to tease but had a huge soft spot for Sam and Cas and by proxy for Dean as well, the older Winchester just hadn’t accepted that yet.

“Now come on, let Luke do his thing and we get a cup of coffee. You have to tell me all the news from down here.” Anna grinned at Charlie.

The two red heads had become fast friends and they tended to gossip a little about their little family.

They quickly were sitting comfortably at the kitchen table with cups of coffee and cookies.  
“Well, I think Kevin’s got a new girlfriend. I’m not entirely sure if they are together already but he certainly has a huge interest and he’s not even half as sneaky with it as he thinks he is. It’s cute really and it’s not like I would give him shit for it either. I’m just looking forward to the day Dean and Cas find out, that’ll be fun.” Charlie began making the angel laugh heartily.

Anna could imagine perfectly how that talk would go. Dean had felt responsible for Kevin even before but now with Sam being a baby again and him going into parent mode it had gotten even more intense. Cas generally managed to reign him in but if he was concerned about something, her little brother was even worse.

Charlie continued telling her about Garth and a couple of hunts they went on before and how their hunter network was coming along, which worked like a charm and expanded quickly.

“What about you, anything new?” Anna asked after a short pause and smiled at the other girl.

“Nope, same old. Not that I really have the time to do something about it with babysitting Sam, working on the hunter network, working the occasional case and preparing for my new Moondoor campaign. But it’s fine really.”

“Oh, the queen is active again? That’s good to hear. And what’s new at the Winchester-Novak household? I mean every time we’re there everything is fine but honestly?” Anny raised an eyebrow suggestively, making Charlie laugh.

“I know right? It’s almost sickening. These two work so perfectly together I can’t believe it took them so long to get their act together. As far as I know they hadn’t had even the smallest argument so far, they make all the major decisions together and Sam seriously is the happiest baby in existence. At the moment they are planning the development of the auto shop for Dean which had been Cas’ idea after all. It’ll take a bit of time so they want to plan and get all the paper work done before spring so that they can start building as soon as possible. And Cas starts working at the beginning of January as well.”

At that piece if news Anna blinked in surprise. She had heard about the auto shop plans before but _that_ she didn’t know.  
“Excuse me, Cas does what?” she asked again.

“He starts working in January. We’ve been talking about it for a while now but with everything happening it took him a bit of time to actually decide on what to do. He didn’t want to go into teaching after all.” Charlie began to explain.

“Pity, Cas is a good teacher, he had always been one of the most adored instructors in the garrison because he was kind and patient and always willing to help if one of the younger angels had trouble with an exercise.” Anna interjected with a smile.

“Yeah well, I guess that’ll help him with his future job. He takes over the library at the Lawrence High School. It was a lucky coincidence that I found that particular job. The woman who does that at the moment apparently is pregnant and leaves at the end of the year and Cas takes over from there. He had been unsure about it all at first but again –perfect couple they are- Dean had talked him around, now he can’t wait to start. Working in a school full of teenagers, he’ll need the patience.” Charlie ended with a laugh and Anna nodded at that, Cas would do well though, she was sure of that.

Charlie finished her coffee and looked at the red headed angel expectantly.  
“What?” Anna smirked.

“Oh come on, you know exactly what I want. I told you everything that happened down here, now spill!” Charlie urged.

“Well I can’t tell you a lot because I’m not there, I don’t see what he’s up to but I know that my brother is missing a lot when he’s not on duty which certainly is new. Plus he’s a lot more relaxed with his recruits and soldiers, still strict and every bit the pain in the ass general he’s always been but more balanced and laid-back. I met some of his younger soldiers after a mission that didn’t go as planned and they were positively dazed after he debriefed them. I was concerned and talked to them to find out what he had said and if I should go and talk to him. You know what they said? And mind you they had been pretty freaked out before. They told me that Mike hadn’t even been angry with them, had told them that mistakes could happen. He had calmly explained to them what they had done wrong and how they could have prevented a couple of things but ultimately praised them for thinking on their feet and improvising to turn the outcome in our favour. It’s unheard of, Michael _praising_ someone for breaking protocol and thinking for themselves.”

Anna looked at Charlie intently, trying to figure out if her friend would understand the full extent of what she just told her, what a massive step that had been for someone like Michael. And all because of one human and her son.

Charlie’s eyes were wide and disbelieving.  
“Holy shit! Honestly? Whatever I’ve been expecting you to say, it wasn’t _that_. I mean from what I’ve heard Lisa had been exactly what Dean had needed back then -I couldn’t say I met him a lot later- that she kept him going and taught him a thing or two about being human, accepting things and family. But this? Is she some miracle worker or something?”

The angel couldn’t help but snort at that. Sometimes Charlie had the most hilarious ideas but she was right in a way. What Lisa had brought about in Michael seemed close to a miracle and in such a short time as well. One thing was for sure though, Lisa and Ben had the same heavenly security detail now as Dean, Cas and Sam because no one wants to find out what would be the fall out if something happened to them.

~~**~~

In the meantime Lucifer was happily laughing along with Sam who finally agreed to his bath time. True, Luke was soaked from head to toe as well but the angel didn’t care about that at all. It was child’s play to dry himself afterwards after all.

Sam had been sitting in the tiny baby tub happily hitting the surface of the water and splashing it everywhere until Lucifer had decided to step the entertainment up a bit and started to create little swirls and fountains in front of the baby. Sam was looking at them with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“You might want to keep your mouth closed, pumpkin or otherwise water will get inside.” The older man chuckled and sprinkled a bit of water in the direction of Sam’s mouth.

The baby sputtered and pouted, looking to all the world offended at this action before he simultaneously hit the water with both hands again and soaked Lucifer’s face in retaliation.

“Oh you little devil.” The angel laughed, wiping his face again before he sniffled playfully and pouted in Sam’s direction.

The baby didn’t understand the change in mood and stopped his giggling in favour of a curious look. Obviously he quickly decided that Lucifer apparently wasn’t happy anymore and Sam couldn’t have that.

He stretched his hand in the blond’s direction, chirping _lulu_ all the while.  
That made the other smile again and he quickly grabbed a towel and took the wet baby in his arms, covering him with the fluffy fabric.

“It’s okay pumpkin, as long as you’ll have me close by, I’ll stay with you.” He whispered and Sam snuffled against the crook of Lucifer’s neck, grabbing his shirt tightly in his small fists.  
“I love you too, pumpkin.” Lucifer mumbled, carefully drying the baby off and dress him in his sleep wear.

“And now for your bedtime story, little one, I promised and I keep my promises.” The angel said and took him to the room where the crib was already waiting, gently placing the baby on the mattress and placing the black dog in Sam’s hand.

The collection of fairytales was already waiting for him and soon he had decided on a story and began reading, gently stroking the soft hair on Sam’s head during it all.  
It didn’t take long for Sam to be out like a light. It was a lot later already than his usual bedtime after all.

That’s how Charlie and Anna found the two of them a little later. Lucifer had stopped reading out loud a while before but had remained by Sam’s side and finished the story by himself.

Lucifer chuckled when Charlie wound her arms around him from behind, hugging him tightly.  
“He’s bathed and sleeping peacefully. Thank you Luke, you are a genius!” she whispered gratefully. Without the angel’s help she probably would have had to call Cas and Dean after all at some point.

“Nah, just a master in persuasion. You’re welcome, Charlie. It was my pleasure!” the angel replied and closed the book finally.

“I’m sure it was.” Anna grinned. “It saved you from doing paperwork, Luke. But as good as Michael’s mood may be recently, I don’t think he’ll let it go entirely so you better get a move on tomorrow.” The red headed angel chuckled at the scowl on Lucifer’s face that told her that she had hit a nerve.

~~**~~

When Charlie had taken off with Sam that afternoon, Dean had actually felt a bit lost for a little while. For months the highest priority had been his baby brother. Sure he had spent time apart from his brother but never before had he been alone in the house without Sam there. It felt weird to not have an eye on the baby or at least keep the monitor close in case something’s the matter.

So Dean decided to clean up a bit to get his mind off of the strange feeling. As it happened Cas had suffered from the very same problem and had decided on the same remedy as well.

They met in the living room Cas with a ball in his hands that had been lying in the hallway and Dean mid-folding the blanket they usually used to cover Sam with when he’d fallen asleep on the floor.

“You think it’s weird too?” Dean asked looking at the toy in Cas’ hands.  
“You could say that, I keep thinking that I have to check on Sam and then I remember that he’s not even here and that Charlie’s taking care of things.” The former angel sighed.

“I know right? Something’s missing and I don’t really know what to do with myself…” Dean replied putting the folded blanket away in a box in the corner of the room. He took a deep breath and sighed before turning around and looking at Cas with a smile.  
“But Charlie wanted us to spend the day together…” he stepped closer to Cas, putting his arms around the dark haired man’s waist. “How about we go for a walk together before we get ready tonight?”

Cas’ eyes sparkled as he smiled at the idea.  
“I’d like that…” he murmured before pressing a short kiss on Dean’s lips.

It didn’t take them too long to get ready. Ever since Cas’ birthday party which actually had been one of the last really warm and sunny days the weather had taken a turn. It got chilly enough that their breath was visible in small clouds and they had to wear scarves and hats to keep from freezing.

Since Sam still was too small and they lived far enough from town they had pretty much ignored Halloween. Not that they had spent a lot of time thinking about it anyway. Their lives resembled an all year Halloween for too long for that.

So they wandered out into the field together. There was a companionable silence between them and they just enjoyed being close to one another.

It didn’t take long really until Dean realized that Cas was feeling cold. He probably should have made sure that his angel had dressed warm enough because Dean knew that ever since Cas became fully human again he had a tendency to feel cold. It hadn’t been a problem during the summer but now it was pretty obvious with the violet-blue colour his fingertips had gotten.

With a loving smile but without a word Dean stopped the dark haired man and took his hands in his own warm ones, blowing warm air over the cold digits while he looked into Cas’ startling blue eyes.

“Thank you Dean.” Cas whispered happily, stepping a bit closer.

“You are welcome. Can’t have you freezing now, can I?” the Winchester grinned, giving the fingers a gentle rub before he entwined their fingers and pulled Cas close enough to put both their hands in his pocket before they continued with their walk.

“I guess not, no. It’s gotten cold quickly.” Cas said thoughtfully.  
“It tends to around here it won’t take long for the first snow to fall either. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and before you know it, it’s Christmas.” Dean nodded.

“That’s right and with Christmas and New Year comes also Sam’s approximated new ‘birthday’…” the former angel added thinking back to a year ago when they still had been trying hard to find a different way to prevent the second apocalypse. It had become more and more obvious though that the way it had played out in the end had been the only chance they had.

Thinking back now… “Sam had made his decision already at this time last year, right?” Dean’s voice interrupted Cas’ thoughts but said exactly what he had been thinking. “I should have known really, he never had wanted to do the big family Thanksgiving thing before. He thought it would be his last…” the Winchester continued.

“I think you’re right, Dean. Remembering it now, it’s pretty obvious but back then his reasoning that we finally had the time, a comfortable place and friends and family close by to actually celebrate the holiday had been sound. It’s still a viable reason just his very personal reasons became a lot clearer in retrospect.” Cas gently squeezed Dean’s hand and stroked it with his thumb. He could feel the shift in Dean’s mood.

They started their circle back slowly.  
“I just wish he would have been honest with me back then…” the blond man murmured under his breath but Cas still caught the words.

“I know but we can’t change the past. For some reason I can’t help but think that my brother had made his decision already as well but didn’t say a word to me about it either. Gabriel and Sam had always been in tune with each other when it came to these things but they didn’t want to burden us.” Cas sighed. “But now we have the chance to make the holidays memorable for Sam right from the beginning. Let’s be grateful for that, it’s the future that counts.”

\---

When they arrived back home, they took the time for a cup of hot coffee before they started to get ready for their first official dinner date and movie.

Dean would never admit, it not even under torture, but he got a little nervous while he stood in front of his closet and tried to find the right clothes, internally berating himself how big a girl he had become since he was caring for a baby.

But all these thoughts flew out of the window by the time he left his room and met Cas just outside his own. The love Dean felt for the former angel flared like a beacon in the night when he set eyes on the figure clad in a pair of black jeans and a dark blue button down. Around his neck Dean caught a glimpse of the silver wings he had gotten Cas for his birthday.

Dean himself had decided on a pair of dark blue jeans with a silver grey button down and a black vest. As he looked in Cas eyes, Dean saw a sliver of uncertainty and he smiled as he stepped closer.  
“You look absolutely stunning, Cas!” he smiled, grabbing both of Cas’ hands and pulled him in for a kiss.

“Thank you Dean, you do as well.”  
The Winchester huffed a small laugh but didn’t say anything to the compliment.

They drove into town where a table at a small Italian restaurant was waiting for them. It was still early so there weren’t that many people around and they had the corner to themselves.

“It’s a nice place, I like it. It has a bit of a rustic atmosphere…” Dean murmured as he looked around and took the interior in. It had been Cas who had reserved the table with Charlie’s help. Cas had known beforehand that Dean would appreciate the simple and understated surroundings, he didn’t like flashy and overdone after all- not including the car. The Impala was a different matter entirely.

Cas chuckled. “I thought you would, that’s the reason I chose it.” He smiled at the blond man.

Both of them –although pizza loving people- chose pasta dishes which they enjoyed thoroughly and made a point to let each other taste. It was funny really but the evening had all the makings of a proper teenager chick flick first date Dean thought. Until Cas got a little restless and kept glancing at his watch.

Dean grabbed Cas’ hand over the table and watched him questioningly.  
“What’s the matter? Everything alright? Do you want to leave?” he asked silently, a little worried truth be told, because it wasn’t really like Cas.

“No, it’s nothing… I just…” Cas shook his head and smiled at Dean reassuringly. “It’s nothing.” He said with a conviction Dean didn’t believe for a second.

“No, love it’s something, you wouldn’t be so antsy if it was nothing, so shoot.” Dean said with a soft smile, grateful that the ‘official first date’ part made Cas a bit uneasy as well.

“It’s stupid really, I just wondered if Charlie is alright… it’s Sam’s bath and bed time now and it’s the first time he’s not at home since we moved and none of us are there. I’m just… worried.” The former angel admitted reluctantly, looking at their hands instead of in Dean’s eyes, something the blond man changed quickly.

Dean couldn’t describe the intense feeling of affection he felt at Cas’ words. “Hey, look at me. Sam will be alright. I’m pretty sure he’s kicking up a fuss right about now but Charlie can handle it. She’s helped us for long enough to know what to do and if she can’t she’ll call us. Sammy’s safe, Cas. Sure he’s probably not pleased but he’s fine.” He smiled at the dark haired man widely. “The daddy is really kicking in with you, huh? Look at you even more worried about my baby brother than me.” He teased gently.

“Yeah, I know he’s fine and safe, you are right. Doesn’t help with the worry though.” Cas sighed but chuckled then. “Ass…”

“Yes, I do have one, a very nice one at that I might add. But listen, it’s alright to be worried, it’s normal. I’m worried as well, always, there’s no shame in that. If anything, you being so worried about Sam’s well-being? Makes me love you even more.” Dean smiled, eyes crinkling in the corners as he squeezed Cas’ hand.

Cas’ eyes widened at those words. Dean wasn’t known for his willingness to talk about feelings behind closed doors much less out in the open. For him to say that in public without so much as a bit of hesitation was extraordinary.

While Cas was still blinking in awe at Dean’s declaration the Winchester pulled the former angel’s hand closer and leaned in to kiss it gently. His heart was pounding like crazy but he knew it was the right thing to do. It had taken him far too long to get his shit together and in the end it had been Cas who had made the first step but now that he was sure of what he felt for his angel he discovered it was easy to speak the words and show his love openly. Screw the rest of the world.

“Dean…” the dark haired man whispered, cheeks rosy and with a happy glint in his eyes. “I love you too!”  
Cas didn’t care that his chair scraped rather loudly over the floor or that his fork slid over his plate and made a mess on the white tablecloth when he got to his feet and leaned over the table, free hand on Dean’s cheek while he kissed him deep and lovingly.

Dean was lost for words when the separated and Cas sat back down, he just looked at his angel.  
It took him a moment to gather his wits again.  
“You… want some dessert or should we leave?” he stuttered.

The former angel got a teasing look on his face and watched Dean for a moment of his own before he slowly licked his lips and answered.  
“No, no I think I’m good.”

They had paid quickly after that and made their way to the cinema a lot slower than it would normally have been due to the fact that they stopped several times to kiss each other deeply.

It was a good thing too, they got the juvenile snogging out of the way before the movie started so both were able to concentrate on the story afterwards. Cas was snuggled up to Dean’s side absentmindedly stroking his stomach while Dean did the same to his side both engrossed in what happened on screen.

That didn’t stop them from continuing what they started after the movie on their way back to the Impala and then when they arrived back home.

Later on when they were cuddling in Dean’s bed they both silently agreed that this time alone was worth the worry about Sam. That didn’t stop them from looking forward to seeing their baby boy the next day again.


	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is family time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is pretty Christmas-sy which wasn't as easy to write as I first thought if the sun is shining outside and spring flowers are already blossoming and all that. But I wanted it to end with a family get together.
> 
> Also, this is the last chapter for now. As I said I plan to write a couple of one shots about Sam's growth later one but those won't be on a regular updating schedule, so keep an eye on that.  
> I hope you enjoy it even if or especially because it's incredibly tooth-rottingly fluffy and corny at times. Please let me know what you think, Feedback always makes me incredibly happy.

 

~*~ _Family life is a bit like a runny peach pie — not perfect but who's complaining?_ ~*~

The morning after their date Dean and Cas had gone over to the bunker to pick up Sam and Charlie had smirked when they entered the kitchen where she was just finishing up the dishes from their breakfast.  
The red head made a couple of teasing comments about the obvious glow that was surrounding them but they had no heat behind them and the boys didn’t really pay attention to her anyway, too preoccupied with Sam who had been squealing happily the moment he had spotted them.

Charlie gave them a quick summary of the evening before, telling them about the rough patch they had hit around bath time but that Lucifer had helped her immensely and that Anna and he said ‘hi’.

As uncomfortable as Dean once had been with Lucifer of all people taking care of his baby brother, he chuckled now at how he had saved Charlie’s ass. It had taken some time but he considered Luke family now as well, he was a good guy despite everything.

They had stayed for another cup of coffee and got an update on the hunt Garth and Kevin had gone on before returning home.

Thanksgiving dinner happened a week later for the first time at their home and it was another happy day for the big unconventional family. Jody, Charlie, Kevin and Garth had come over to celebrate with them and in case of Jody to help Dean with the cooking and in case of the latter three to be awed with Dean’s apparent prowess in the kitchen.

Garth had even joked that Dean should think over the auto shop idea again and consider a restaurant or something instead.

Quicker than they had thought possible it turned mid-December though and Christmas was approaching fast. Dean’s auto shop plans were in the final stages and Cas started to spend a couple of hours once or twice a week at the school library to be brought up to speed on the things he needed to know before he would take over.

They settled into a rhythm easily enough even if Sam wasn’t very happy about the time Cas spent away from home but the little one would get used to it eventually. Dean was secretly amazed however at how an almost one year old could pout and show his displeasure so constantly.

The first time it happened, the second day Cas had spent at the school, they had chalked it up to Sam being just grumpy that day.

The second time Dean already thought it was a bit odd since Sam usually could be grumpy all he wanted but when Cas took care of him he was immediately happy. Not this time though.

The third time it happened it was even worse. Anna, Balthazar and Lucifer had stopped by. Dean had been sitting with them and Sam in the living room and the former angel was able to hear the happy laughter of the baby into the hallway. But when he entered and Sam had spotted him the baby stopped his giggling. Anna didn’t think much of it and had proceeded to hand the baby over to her brother.

To call the expressions on the faces of the three angels as shocked when Sam started to cry and struggle against Cas’ hold the moment he had taken him would have been an understatement.

Dean was instantly at Cas’ side and took Sam from him and calmed him quickly.  
“What’s going on? I’ve never seen Sam react like that to anyone much less one of you.” Balthazar asked, one eyebrow arched in question and confusion.

The former angel sighed deeply. He tried to look like Sam’s reaction was no big deal but Dean saw right through the front, his angel looked downright hurt at the reaction of his baby brother.  
“Nothing major, it’s Sam’s way to tell me what he thinks about me going to work.” He looks over at the child in Dean’s arms. “We’ll get over this, he cries and pouts and struggles but in a couple of hours it’ll be okay again…” _until the next time I leave._ He added in his head but not out loud.

Lucifer regarded his brother carefully, noted his stance and the look at the baby but chuckled softly then.  
“He misses his daddy when you’re not there, don’t we all? He’ll get used to it, don’t worry too much about it brother.”

The dark haired man sighed again and nodded.  
“Luke’s right, don’t take it to heart too much, it’s a temporary thing, he still loves you, you know!” Dean said softly, pressing a kiss to Cas’ temple.  
“Why don’t you sit down and catch up with your siblings and I’ll go and make you a nice cup of coffee?” the Winchester smiled, the grateful flash in Cas’ blue eyes had been answer enough.

Despite those reassurances though, it had taken Dean a whole evening to calm Cas down and talk him through a minor panic attack after the fourth time it happened which admittedly had been hard to witness.

Cas had left before Sam had been awake and came back home late in the afternoon which resulted in Sam kicking up a tantrum the rest of the day every time Cas came even close to him as if the baby wanted to say _you didn’t need me until now then I don’t need you now either_.

In consequence Cas had questioned his decision to start work already, wondered if he was abandoning Sam and feared that Sam would really start to hate him by the time he would start working full-time. And what would that do to their relationship because Cas knew that despite everything, Sam would always be Dean’s first priority and rightfully so in these circumstances.

Reassuring his angel hadn’t been easy at that point but Dean couldn’t leave it alone, he needed to make sure Cas understood that everything was alright, that their relationship was stronger than a baby with mood swings even if it was his baby brother, that Sam would grow out of it and he needed to take the job because it was what he wanted and Dean wanted him happy.

Later that night when Dean was the one to watch Cas sleep he realized that he probably had talked more about his feelings with Cas over the past months than his whole life before combined and the funny thing was it didn’t feel weird, it was natural.

\---

So it was mid-December and Dean went on a bit of a Christmas rampage. The few memories he had of Christmas with his parents were hazy at best but it always had been a favourite of Dean’s holidays. He just never had a real chance of celebrating it and he planned to remedy that and go all out now that he had a home.

The Winchester had commandeered Charlie’s help with the decorations, letting the red head have her way in the shop while he was pushing the car with Sam, giving his approval to most of the things she brought. There were only few pieces he denied her.

While Sam was napping afterwards, the two of them busied themselves with putting up the lights and decorations around the house, turning the house into a shiny beacon of Christmas spirit.

“Charlie, when Cas comes back home, can you watch over Sam for a while? I’d like to choose the Christmas tree and decoration together with him.” Dean asked later while they were hanging straw stars in the windows. Charlie had wanted to buy a can of spray snow but Dean had stopped her always aware of Sam’s safety.

“Sure if you don’t take too long, I need to be back at the bunker around six to take over the phones from Kevin.” Charlie answered, straightening out another star.

“Yeah we can do that, thanks!” Dean smiled happily, humming a Christmas song under his breath.

“So big Christmas party, will the whole family be together?” The red head wanted to know. She suspected that Dean planned another big feast and after eating a couple of times at their house after Thanksgiving she certainly had to agree with Garth, Dean could totally pull off the diner/restaurant with his skills. It wasn’t fair, she thought sometimes, she was amazing with computers and pop culture trivia but other than that she didn’t have many talents unlike the damn Winchester who was good with cars and hunting, was an amazing cook and construction work wasn’t a problem either and who knew what else.

“Sure thing, I guess it’ll be about the same bunch that was here for Cas’ birthday unless you want to bring a plus one?” the blond man turned his head and winked at the her.

“Was that your entirely unsubtle way of asking if I have a girlfriend? You can do better than that Winchester. But no, no plus one for me. Back on topic though, that means Crowley is invited as well?” she grinned at him.

“Yeah well, I tried.” Dean chuckled but his face turned thoughtful in response to her question. “Good that you mention it, I haven’t even thought about that, I need to talk to Cas about Crowley. I mean, we should at least ask, right? But we need to do that soon because it also means cutting back on the demon warding in the living room as well.” He shook his head, pulled a notebook from the back pocket of his jeans and made a note.

He didn’t even think about it until he heard Charlie burst into laughter next to him.  
“Dean Winchester, did you seriously start carrying around a notebook? Are we getting old?” she teased sweetly.

The blond man snapped the elastic band around the book back into place and put it back in his pocket, raising a challenging eyebrow at Charlie as he replied.  
“Yes, Ms Bradbury, I believe I did. No seriously, I don’t do this normally but at the moment I have to think about so many things at once that I fear I’ll forget half of it if I don’t write it down. Like talking to Cas about Crowley or stuff I need to buy for Sam, ideas for Christmas presents or stuff I should add to my auto shop plans and most importantly the always growing grocery list for Christmas dinner.”

Charlie continued to chuckle but she understood him perfectly. Having a baby in the house, planning your own business and preparation for the holidays was a lot at once.  
“Uah… yeah don’t remind me, just thinking about it makes me gain weight.”

That statement made Dean laugh then.  
“You know you don’t have to eat everything I cook.” He grinned brightly, knowing full well that Charlie just couldn’t resist the food he puts on the table, whenever he does it.

“Sure, I’d like to see you try to resist a freshly made pie if you see it.” She grumbled and jumped down from the chair she had been standing on. “I’ll make some coffee, you want some too?” she added then already halfway to the kitchen.

Dean only chuckled and nodded at her, tying the last stars to the curtain rail. She had a point after all.

\---

About an hour later Cas returned home, pretty exhausted but happy nonetheless. The buzz of the coming Christmas break obviously made the kids at school a little more demanding. He got himself a cup of coffee as well and chatted with Charlie while Dean took care of Sam’s diaper.

Cas had learnt to resist the urge to go to Sam directly when he returned home since it ended in tears anyway. They let Sam watch Cas for a bit and pout at him and mostly about an hour or so after his return Sam would be the one to initiate contact by demanding his daddy. It wasn’t easy for neither Cas nor Dean but they made it work.

When he had finished his coffee and Dean had come back into the room with his brother, Cas got whisked away by the elder Winchester.

Bundled up in his warm coat and sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala only a couple of minutes later, Cas looked up at his partner with an expression between frown and smile.  
“What are we doing?” he wanted to know.

“We are going to buy the biggest, bushiest and most beautiful Christmas tree there is for our very first family Christmas. And then you are going to choose our decorations.” Dean smiled back, gently placing his hand on Cas’ thigh, stroking his thumb up and down softly.

The blue eyes went wide at Dean’s words.  
“I choose the decorations? But why? I don’t even have a clue what to look for?”

The Winchester couldn’t help but laugh at that.  
“Relax, Cas, I want you to choose them because I already chose all the other decorations, also it’s your first real Christmas as well and seriously it’s not like you can do anything _wrong_. And I’m still here. Just choose something you like!”

Dean shook his head internally, sometimes his angel really was ridiculous in his insecurities. As if choosing Christmas tree decoration was such a big thing.

Before they went to buy the decorations however, Dean drove to the Christmas tree sale.  
He smiled as he watched Cas looking wide eyed at all the different trees and took his hand securely in his then.  
“Alright, we’re looking for a big, nice tree without too pointy needles. We’ll have to have an eye on Sam anyway but just in case that he won’t hurt himself, plus decorating the tree is more fun if you don’t look like a pincushion afterwards.” He explained.

They walked through rows and rows of different trees, looking at this and that but for some reason there was always something wrong in Dean’s opinion. He just wanted this to be perfect.

After some time Cas let go of his hand and vanished around a corner while Dean inspected yet another one until Cas’ voice calling for him interrupted him.  
“I like this one!” Cas stated with a big smile, pointing at a tree when Dean stepped next to him.

“This?” the Winchester took a step towards the tree and looked it over critically. “But Cas it’s-“

“Yes I know, it’s a little crooked and there is a branch missing at one side.” Cas smiled, hugging Dean from behind. “I know you wanted the tree to be perfect but I like that one. It’s perfect in its imperfection, just like us. It’s the fitting tree for our family.” The former angel explained.

Dean huffed a little but thought about Cas’ words for a bit, looked at the tree again.  
“Alright, we’ll take that one, you are right!” Dean conceded and kissed Cas on the cheek before stepping out of the embrace and waving the salesperson over.

Buying the tree was done quickly enough and Cas watched Dean with amusement when he wrapped a blanket around the tree before strapping it to the Impala’s roof.  
“Don’t laugh, despite all the Christmas cheer and everything, I’m not going to scratch baby’s paintjob with this tree.” The blond man had grumbled.

Although Cas had been surprised by Dean tasking him with the decoration it hadn’t taken the former angel long to decide. If Dean had expected Christmas baubles and sparkly stuff of the kind you can see everywhere, Cas surprised him by sidestepping all that instantly. The dark haired man explained to him that he didn’t like that stuff really because it was just too much and more importantly it was too dangerous. “ _Imagine one of these balls falls down, there would be shards everywhere, I’m not taking this risk with Sam._ ” He had said.

In the end they had gotten more lights for the tree and straw stars and a box full of small Christmas themed wooden figurines. No angels though, Cas had been quite adamant about that.

\---

Charlie had welcomed them home on the front porch with Sam in her arms. She had heard the Impala and thought she could meet them halfway.

For some weird reason Sam reacted very differently if Dean and Cas both left him with Charlie alone. All three adults looked at the baby boy when he called for Cas quite loudly the moment he saw him get out of the car. The brilliant, happy smile on Cas face at that moment betrayed how much Sam’s temporary rejection hurt him really.

With a few quick steps he was at Charlie’s side and took Sam from her, hugging the baby close against the cold and kissing his forehead softly.  
“You know…” Charlie chuckled at the scenario. “Have you considered the thought that Sam isn’t mad at you because you leave him behind but because you go alone? I mean who knows what Gabriel’s angel mojo did to his memory, he probably doesn’t do it consciously but maybe it’s an instinctual response to your past because –no offence- every time you went off on your own, shit hit the fan, you were at risk and Dean went borderline suicidal. No wonder he isn’t happy when you leave alone, even if he doesn’t know why exactly he’s not happy but it’s alright as long as you two go together.” She said.

She had started the explanation more playful than serious but the more she thought about it, it made sense and judging from the stunned reaction she received, Cas thought so too.  
“Thank you, Charlie. I never thought about it this way, quite frankly I think neither of us really thought about the possibility that Sam still had residual memories left and don’t worry, no offence taken, it is true after all even if it pains me to say so.” The former angel smiled.

“Yeah well, shit happens, Cas. You got the clue at some point that’s what’s important. I need to leave now though or Kevin will have my head for taking over phone duty too late.” She gave Cas a half hug as best as she could with the baby in between, pressed a quick kiss to Sam’s hair and did the same with Dean on her way to her car.

~~**~~

That night Cas and Dean laid cuddling on the couch, looking at their brightly lit Christmas tree and Sam who was playing happily under it. As long as they watched him, he was free to roam the room.

Cas had told the elder Winchester about Charlie’s idea and Dean had been surprised which was telling enough that he hadn’t considered the idea either. They quietly talked about the possibilities and problems that could arise with that revelation but decided that all they really could do right now was to observe and wait for Sam to grow a little older before they even had a chance to do something about it.

As it was, they just watched the baby look up at the tree with wide eyes until Sam apparently found a place he liked and sat down at looking at a particular branch with a frown of deep concentration on his face.

The blond man chuckled.  
“What are you looking at, baby bug? What are you planning?” he said, a smile in his voice.

The child didn’t react to the questions though but looked straight up while he shuffled around on his knees again and then very slowly on his feet.

Cas was the first to react and quickly grabbed his mobile phone on the table, recording started before he settled back in his seat.

Dean was stunned at first at what was unfolding in front of his eyes but then grabbed his phone as well, snapping lots of picture in addition to the video Cas was making.

Sam’s movements were wobbly and insecure but he was stubborn if nothing else and very focused on whatever figure had caught his interest.  
“You can do it baby bug, you are a little fighter!” Dean murmured in encouragement.

It didn’t take too long but finally Sam stood on shaky, chubby legs, taking a tentative step forwards and grabbing the figure tightly before he lost balance and sat on his butt again. He was rewarded though because the figure slid down the branch easily enough and was now in his hands. With a big toothy smile he turned his head to his brother and his daddy and waved it proudly.

The two men were laughing with him and Cas didn’t need to look at Dean to know that he had proud tears in his eyes even if the elder Winchester wouldn’t ever admit to that. But he felt the same and would never make fun of his partner.

They put away their phones and made their way to Sam’s side who was a little surprised that he suddenly got tight hugs and kisses not really aware of the achievement he just made. He had just wanted that figure and he got what he wanted that was all he needed to know.

“Now let’s see what was so important that you got to your own feet.” Cas said gently catching Sam’s hand that held the decoration and promptly started laughing.  
“Oh you won’t like that, Dean but I think your brother just might have told us his very first Christmas wish.” The former angel chuckled.

“He has? What’s tha… no, no way!” Dean shook his head vehemently when he saw the small figure of a Golden Retriever puppy in a present box with a Santa hat on. “We are so not getting a dog!” he emphasized.

“Not yet maybe, I agree, Sam’s still too small but at some point maybe, just think about it, Dean when you have your auto shop with all those expensive classic cars, wouldn’t it be good to have a proper guard dog?” Cas said, smiling.

Dean snorted. “Are you telling me that you want a dog too?”  
“I have said no such thing but I’m certainly open to the possibility, it would do Sam good, he would definitely be safe and as I said a guard dog never goes amiss.”

“You two are impossible, you know that? But alright, I’ll keep it in mind and we’ll talk about it in a couple of years again. No promises though!” he huffed.

Cas took Sam in his arms and they both grinned at Dean.  
“That’s all we really want.” He grinned leaned in for a small kiss.

~~**~~

The remaining days until Christmas had passed in a bit of a blur of present shopping, invitations and preparations but finally Christmas Eve arrived and Dean had been in the kitchen since the early morning hours. Cas had come down significantly later for coffee and breakfast but had quickly fled the kitchen which resembled a war zone more than anything by that time.

Instead he had spent some time watching Christmas cartoons with Sam and then preparing the large table for their guests. Cas had called up Crowley a week before and in a surprisingly amicable meeting at the coffee shop in town he had issued their invitation. Together they also worked out a changed set of warding sigils that would allow only Crowley entry to their house but keep out every other demon.

The former angel really looked forward to this family gathering of sorts.

It was afternoon when the first guests arrived. Sam was alone in the living room inside the play fence restricted area but standing at the edge closest to the Christmas tree and the presents lying under it, holding himself up with an iron grip on the fence. It really said something about the regularity of people appearing and disappearing out of thin air around him that Sam didn’t even blink when he suddenly wasn’t alone anymore just looked up curiously.

“Aw Sammy, look at you standing on your own two feet like a big boy already.” Lisa cooed and took a step closer to the child.  
Ben just rolled his eyes at his mother’s antics and Michael who had been the one to transport them so suddenly into the room smiled indulgently.

“Indeed a big boy. He’s growing pretty fast, I believe the last time I saw him he was a good 5 centimetres smaller.” The angel said, crouching down in front of Sam. “No wonder you got as tall as you were at that pace.” He smiled and the child returned it toothily.

As reserved as he usually was when his siblings were around, Michael certainly had a big soft spot for the younger Winchester and because of that Ben had quickly earned his respect when he instinctively prepared to keep Sam safe against the stranger even if he had to know that he had no real chance against an angel. With a soft smile he reach down and placed Sam on his hip securely before grabbing Lisa’s hand and stepping closer to the kitchen.

Michael was aware that he wouldn’t be able to enter the other room but they had to let their hosts know that they were there after all.

“Merry Christmas you two!” Lisa greeted Dean and Cas who both had their backs turned to them but quickly looked back at her voice.  
“Lisa, thanks a lot, maybe you can give Dean a hand since I’m completely inept apparently!” Cas sighed and hugged the woman quickly.

“Hey, I never said that!” Dean replied defensively and stepped closer to their guests as well. “Hey Lis, hey Mike, I see Sam is in good hands. Where’s Ben?”

“Still in the living room, too many people in the kitchen for the teenager, I suppose!” the dark haired woman laughed. “So tell me what can I help you with?”

There were a couple of little things that needed doing but Lisa quickly knew what to do and when.

Like this Cas was left to return with his brother and Sam to the living room, greeting Ben who had curled up on the couch with a book on angelic sigils and Enochian warding.

The former angel raised a questioning eyebrow at his elder brother. “Did you do something that he wants to learn how to keep you out already?” Cas chuckled teasingly.

“Not that I’m aware of but Lisa tells me that it is common adolescent behaviour or something and that I shouldn’t be too alarmed.” Michael explained.

“I can still hear you, you know that right? Just because I’m concentrating on the book I’m not suddenly deaf!” Ben grumbled from his place. Cas took a step closer and leaned on the back of it.  
“My apologies, you are right of course. So would you enlighten me why this is of sudden interest for your?” the dark haired man tried.

Ben blushed furiously at the question. “I’d much rather not, no.” he muttered.  
“You sure? Because I’m convinced that Michael and I can give you your answers a lot quicker but if you absolutely don’t want to, keep reading or ask Anna or Luke later when they’re here, they can help you just as well.” Cas smiled kindly, waiting patiently for Ben to come to a decision.

“But you can’t tell mom and definitely not Dean, okay?!” Ben looked imploringly at both Cas and Michael, the latter taken aback at the quick breakthrough Cas managed even though he didn’t openly show it.

“If you don’t want us to, we won’t breath a word to them, it’s not our secret to tell, I assure you. So what do you want to know?” Cas asked again, taking a seat next to Ben while Mike settled Sam back in his play area and took a seat opposite of him.

“Alright…” the teenager took a deep breath and blushed again. “It’s not about keeping you out or anything… more like the opposite…” he sighed. “There is this girl at my school…” he started but trailed off.

Cas just barely held his smirk back. Seriously Dean was rubbing off on him but Mike looked up.  
“The one you have your weekly study group with?” he asked.

The blush on Ben’s cheeks grew impossibly darker but he smiled and looked up at Michael with shining eyes.  
“Yes, Jenny. Those are more like… study dates, I guess but her birthday is coming up and I want to ask her on a real date and she doesn’t want me to buy her something but to make her something myself and then I thought I could make her a necklace with a protective sigil because I really like her and I want her safe but her neighbourhood isn’t exactly that and yeah… can you help me?” after he started, Ben was on a roll and rushed all that out in record time.

Cas was chuckling after all but nodded in understanding, now he knew why Ben didn’t want Dean to know because he would tease Ben endlessly.  
“I think the idea is really good, Ben and I’m sure we will find something useful and pretty at the same time, don’t you think brother?” Cas winked at Ben. “Give him a moment and I promise you no one can help you better than Mike, he has a vast knowledge of the most powerful protective sigils.”

Ben looked at the other angel with big eyes and the archangel smiled almost shyly.  
“Really? Cool! Thank you!”

~~**~~

Cas left them to it with a notebook and a pen to make notes and for Ben to see the sigils Michael was talking about. It was cute really.

It didn’t take long though for the remaining guests to arrive and it got gradually louder and louder with conversations and Christmas cheer.

And although Dean looked mildly stressed he also looked extremely happy when they quickly had put all the different bowls and plates on the table.

The couple even was entirely relieved of baby duty since Lucifer had placed the high chair between his and Crowley’s chair and they both were so preoccupied with feeding him that they forgot to eat themselves half the time.

Charlie couldn’t help but take many pictures.  
“That has to be recorded for generations to come, Lucifer and the king of hell taking care of Sam Winchester, the one babyfied hunter who has kicked both their asses on several occasions before.” She announced giggling.

Dean barked out a laugh at her description, it was so typically Charlie but she was right and it was a glorious picture and most likely one he would print out, frame and place on their fireplace along with a couple more pictures of this family celebration.

With a happy smile he took Cas’ hand in his, pressed a soft kiss to the former angel’s matching smile.  
“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Dean!” Cas smiled back, leaning his head on Dean’s shoulder and just watching Sam’s slightly disgruntled face at Lucifer’s attempt of feeding him peas. All was good.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so that was the prologue to something that probably will take a while and be longer than anything I've ever written. Chapter 01 is already more than three times as long as the prologue.  
> This also is a first for me that I start posting a story that isn't finished yet so I'll try to keep a regular updating schedule but yeah who knows what the new year will bring, right?
> 
> \---  
> find me on tumblr: http://moonlight-petal.tumblr.com/


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